Waking Dreams : Prequel to Reborn Legends
by Arys
Summary: FINISHED Prequel to Reborn Legends. Don't read this unless you've read RL first, or you don't care if RL is ruined. It has spoilers. Due to content in future chapters, this story is now a strong R.
1. Prologue

Waking Dreams : Prequel to Reborn Legends  
  
Author: Arys  
  
Due to my sudden urge to continue this story, there is no character death in this prologue. Also, this is going to be a prequel to Reborn Legends, so, you might wanna read that first cause this has spoilers. This story is now also rated R for future content.  
  
Disclaimer: Ok, I do NOT own Zelda or any of its characters..blah blah blah...you get the drift. On with the story!  
  
~ ~ = memories/flashbacks  
  
His eyes were closed but he did not sleep. He could taste it, smell it, feel it all over again. Every single night he would relive his haunting past, or was it his alternate future? No matter what it was, it was still there, fresh in his mind and he could not escape it.  
  
~ Being plastered to the mold infested wall didn't help him much. The vines encasing him further disabled him, he could not move. Not to mention that breathing seemed to be a difficult chore now. The taste of poison ivy on his lips made his stomach churn, but he figured throwing up would do him no good, seeing as it would weaken him even more. Oh, wonderful. He could barely see out of the corner of his eye the Giant Skulltulas that were descending upon him to hold him at bay; as if he could move anyway. Smelling the demon spiders' rotted breath made his nostrils flare and the idea of throwing up not such a bad one anymore. He heard the cry before he could register what it was. Oh Goddesses, what was that pain?! It felt as if his flesh was being torn from his very limbs.. yes, he could definitely feel teeth sinking into his legs. Then he saw it, the Gray Wolfos was feasting on him! Arg, the pain! How did he get himself into this mess? If only he could reach his sword....  
  
His body seemed to be hurled through time and space and the sudden inability to breathe was overwhelming. He tried kicking his feet, the pain of being torn apart no longer apparent. Finally, he could breathe again! He climbed out of the water and collapsed on the ledge, when the strange feeling of foreboding overtook his senses. Why did that not surprise him? He leapt onto his feet and mindlessly slashed through the two Tektites, only to be greeted with a hideously large Like Like. Slaughtering such creatures became like a dance for him, executing without having to even think about it. After being sucked up and spit back out, he disposed of the revolting blob and went through the door. Sinking to his knees, memories of blood and death and screaming suddenly overflowed his mind. Why couldn't he just die, too? How could he possibly have enough strength to go on like this? Oh, the Hero of Time has plenty of strength, plenty of energy. He is invulnerable. Ha! If only they knew! If not for the potions and faeries, surely he would be laying immobile, paralyzed, and Goddesses forbid, dead somewhere. What a joke. He gathered his strength as best he could, knowing there was no way he would get out of this place without a fight. It was almost a certainty. Oh how he hated being right all the time. He would never forget the sinister laugh, the burning red eyes, the almost identical resemblance this creature had to Link himself. Identical except for the shadowy black skin, the black...everything. He swore by Din's Fire, this Shadow Elf would not escape him so easily. Then it happened again. The drowning, the suffocating...ack! No air!  
  
Fire! Fire that gave no heat but could scorch the very soul. What sort of hell was this? His skin seemed to boil and his heart seemed to burn, yet the flame was not the cause of this. He could feel them, the eyes of the dragon... "Damn you Volvagia, you demon," he muttered to himself. He could feel the eyes piercing his heart and burning his soul. How much more of this could he take before he exploded? He realized that life seemed endless to him now, it seemed as if he could not die, no matter how much he wanted to sometimes. He didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse. Killing the guardian dragon of this temple was *not* going to be easy.  
  
Dead...all of it. Rotten, decayed, and Goddesses, the stench! This was definitely the most haunting place of all. He looked around as if he could see, but there was no light. There was only darkness and death, and the demons reached for him as if to drag him to the underworld. This place was truly a place of shadow. This was the one place that made him want to scrape at his eyes, the one place that made him want to pull his hair and scream until his throat was bloody. He felt as if he was living an undying death, which to him was worse than actually dying. This was the one place that made him cry his soul out.  
  
This was so much better than that rotten death circus that he had barely come out of. By Farore's Wind, he had just about enough of those Lizalfos. Dumbest things ever created by the big Dorkwad. They were at times hard to kill, but he managed nonetheless. The cries of the spirits tended to get on his nerves as well, but what did he expect? This *was* the Spirit Temple after all. All he wanted to do was murder the bloody witches and get out of this place. Oh for the Love of Nayru! ....Is that Nabooru?  
  
BOOM! Down again. He didn't know if he could take another shot, his breathing was raspy and most of his clothes were torn, the blood in his body seemed like it was trying to get free of him. If he couldn't get up, it was all over. The sound of Zelda's screams brought him back to reality, and he struggled to get up. One more blow, and this beast was going down. He rolled between Ganon's legs, aiming for the tail again, but realized only too late that he left his sword behind. Ducking a swing, he rolled again and grabbed his sword just in time to strike, "Take that, Dorkwad!"...  
  
"You can't send me back."  
  
"I must, it is your destiny."  
  
"My destiny?! Fuck you! Do you even have the slightest clue as to what I've been through? And for you, no less!"  
  
"Please, I know you're upset.."  
  
"Upset doesn't even begin to-"  
  
"But it is time we must part. Time for you to regain your lost youth." Zelda placed the ocarina to her lips.  
  
"No! Don't do it!" ~  
  
This was the last straw.  
  
"Wake up."  
  
"Wha..who's there?"  
  
"Me."  
  
"Guar-"  
  
"No need to call the guards, Zelda. They can't hear you."  
  
"..Link? Is it really you?"  
  
"I've come to repay an old debt."  
  
"What can you mean?"  
  
"It's time you learn." The bright glistening of the Master Sword shone brightly in Zelda's eyes, and its song called out to her. The last reminiscent thought Zelda had of the young Hero of Time was his smiling face as they met for the first time in her gardens, his acceptance to help her, his strong willpower, and his courageous heart. As the sword's gleam became brighter, she wondered how such a good man had become so corrupted, and then it all became clear to her. It was mostly...no...all her fault. 


	2. Spy

Chapter 1

Navi flitted to the window and sat upon the sill, watching the restless young man stir in his bed. After a long while she sighed and flew over to him, not wanting to see him so troubled.

"Master-"

"I was wondering when you would come in," he told her, opening his eyes and staring out into the dark world outside his window.

"You look a bit pale tonight, master," Navi flew to his shoulder and alighted there, not wanting to hide herself under his hat. Link's eyes flickered at the sound of the word 'master,' but did not allow anymore emotion than that to show. He had become quite good at hiding his true feelings as of late...

"I am always pale," Link flicked a piece of dirt off his leg. "Why did you come back?" Navi turned a soft yellow.

"I had nowhere else to go, and I worried about you." That's bullshit,)) Link thought silently. ((She is definitely not herself.)) "Master..."

"Stop calling me that, Navi. Since when did you become all...serene?"

"I don't understand."

"Cut the crap and tell me why you're really here." Navi floated in front of his face, and Link imagined the tiny little eyes he could not see glaring at him with mild amusement and frustration. It was the way he had always imagined them. Tonight, however, was different. In reality those little eyes of hers were glazed and motionless, and by some odd force of magic, Link knew. In no more than a blink of an eye, he reached out and pinched the little fairy between his fingers until he felt the warm liquid spill down his fingertips and onto his wrists, the piercing screams of agony doing no more than irritate him. By the Goddesses, when had he lost his soul? He knew perfectly well the answer to that question.

Link looked down at his hand, preparing to wipe the fluid off, and remembered where he really was. "Everyone's trying to spy on me...." he said quietly to himself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How is she holding up?" Rauru glanced up at the solemn face of an aged Impa, then looked down to her side and gave a small wink to the seemingly tiny Forest Sage.

"She is much better today, but I fear she is still in quite a bit of shock," Rauru stated as he offered the seat next to him. Impa sat down beside Rauru on the huge, suede davenport while Saria looked longingly at the big, wooden doors that held the sleeping Princess Zelda.

"I guess that is what's to be expected," the green-haired girl said sadly, finally joining Rauru and Impa on the couch. It was quite a shock to her as well when she heard the news. Link, whom she thought was at one time her best friend, so kind and gentle- was a frightening mass of insanity.

She didn't blame him, much. He had gone through a lot after all, but unfortunately he hadn't been strong enough to deal with it.

"Let me go see if she's asleep. If not, I'm sure she would enjoy your company very much." Rauru stood and proceeded quietly through the doors, listening for the quiet breathing of the princess.

"Rauru? Is that you?"

"Yes, my dear. Impa and Saria are here to see you, if you wish it."

"That would be very nice, let them in." Rauru left her chambers and returned almost immediately with the two Sages.

"Zelda!" The little green-haired girl leapt onto the princesses's bed and put her arms around her tightly. Zelda smiled and returned the embrace, relieved that her friends were here to comfort her. Impa walked over to her bed and gently stroked Zelda's golden hair.

"I am so you glad you are finally here," Zelda almost sobbed. Rauru quietly left the chamber and closed the door behind him, leaving the three women to themselves. ((I am glad they remain loyal to Zelda...)) Rauru thought silently, beginning to feel a dark cloud of sorrow and guilt formulate within his troubled mind.

"Zelda," Saria said pleadingly, "tell us what really happened. We must know." Zelda closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh of nervousness, not knowing exactly where she should begin.

"Link...he..he's not..."

"Do not fret, child. There is an absolute power that lies within the three Goddesses, and because you are in some mysterious way connected to that power, they will be watching over you for all eternity. As long as you hold their spirits close to your heart, they will be there to guide you," Impa said reassuringly. Zelda sighed again, but with more relief than nervousness. She sat up on her pillow and held Saria tightly.

"Link lost faith in the Goddesses somewhere along the line, and without the help of their guidance, went completely..." Zelda bit back the tears that threatened to come gushing out at any moment, and continued. "Went... completely insane."

"Please Zelda, go on. I must know...what happened to my friend. To our friend." Saria looked up at her almost helplessly, and Zelda could not resist the stinging tears as they poured out down her pale cheeks.

"I can't. It hurts too much...I..." Impa wiped a tear off Zelda's face and gave her a look of understanding. Zelda closed her eyes again and tried once more to say what she'd been dying to tell someone. Rauru had not asked her the specific details, wanting to let her rest and compose herself before she bled her heart out. The instant he heard she had been attacked, he came dashing to her rescue with healing potions and anything he could think of that would sooth her. It had only been four days and five nights, but this was a very delicate matter. Especially under the circumstances in which it happened...

"Alright, just please, bare with me. What exactly have you heard?" Saria looked down at Zelda's hands and shed a lone tear of her own. Then she looked up into Zelda's face and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but could not.

"Well, I heard that Link tried...to kill..you." Saria had trouble believing that this had been true, but the evidence of it was almost overwhelming and it upset the Kokiri girl immensely. Zelda breathed in deeply and quickly and rolled her eyes into the back of her head, alarming both Sages.

"Rauru! Help!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Navi flitted to the window and sat upon the sill....

"Master."

"For the hundredth time, you little glowing ball of-"

"Hey, psycho. You have a visitor," the Hyrulian Soldier called through the little barred window of Link's cell. He then turned to the frantic red-head standing beside him, and gave her a wary look. "Uhh, miss, before you go in there..."

"I know."

"Well, yeah, it's just...that wacko's been hallucinatin' since the day he got in here, and if ya ask me, I haven't the tiniest inkling why the dear Princess hasn't put him out of his misery yet."

"Do you know... exactly what happened?"

" Not a clue, miss. They won't say a word about it. I wasn't there when it actually happened, so the only people who know about it are two other soldiers and the head of the Royal Guard. Oh, Princess Zelda of course, but I doubt she's uttered a word since it's happened."

"That's very odd."

"Let me tell you, if it was really that bad, I'm sure she would've executed or at least exiled this idiot-"

"Please, let me see him now." The guard gave her a suspicious look but relented and opened the door. Malon walked quietly into the cell and foolishly pulled the door closed behind her. She hadn't seen Link for at least six weeks, and was irritated at his disappearance. After making a routine milk delivery to the castle and overhearing the head of the Royal Guard say something about Link being locked up here, she immediately snuck her way down to the dungeon cells. She was surprised the guard had received her so openly, but didn't let it worry her. She decided she would get to the bottom of this, now. "Link..."

"I didn't mean to squash the little bug, but I couldn't stand her anymore. I know she was sent here by-"

"Link, stop it. It's me, Malon. What's happened to you?" Though there was little light, Malon gasped when Link looked up into her eyes from the corner he was huddled in. The look alone on his face was enough to give the poor girl a heart attack, and what was worse, the color of his eyes. They had become a crimson red, and the very sight of him made Malon's stomach knot up. Then, without warning, Link lunged at her and backed her against the wall, covering her mouth before she had time to scream and alert the guard. With his other free hand he pinned both of her wrists above her head and pressed his entire body into hers.

Placing his smirking mouth mere inches from her ear, he whispered hotly, "Why do you tempt me, Malon?" All she could do was stare at him, tears spilling from her eyes uncontrollably while her body shook in complete terror. Link latched onto her earlobe with his teeth and started to grind his hips into hers, but when she closed her eyes and tried to turn her head away from him, the smirk disappeared from his face and he growled with anger. Releasing her, he walked calmly to the heap of potato sacks in the corner and fell into them.

"Tell me what possessed you to come here," he said quietly. At his words, Malon collapsed to the ground, sobbing and shaking. After she had regained some semblance of control, she stood up and bravely went to crouch beside him. Link was surprised at her boldness, but said nothing.

"I know that was not you, Link. You would not harm me."

"What makes you so sure? I am unpredictable," he said flatly. She took his head in her hands and pulled him into her lap, stroking his hair softly. "You have a lot of nerve, acting so brave," Link finally said, subconsciously relaxing at her touch. She was half surprised and half relieved that he allowed her to do this without losing control again.

"You are not yourself, tell me what has happened to you?"

"You've never believed me before, why should you believe me now?" Link lay motionless in Malon's lap, reveling in the human contact he had not known he'd been yearning.

"I've always wanted to believe you, Link, I just didn't know how. Now that...I'm here, I think it's all become clear to me. I do believe you. " At her words, Link's recently closed eyes snapped open and he turned his head up to look at her. Malon gasped when she saw that his eyes had returned to normal. What she saw in them before couldn't have been a trick of the light, could it?

"Why do you like me?"

Malon snorted as if it were obvious.

"Why would you ask such a stupid question?" Link relaxed into her lap again and closed his eyes, trying to think of how he should go about this.

"Now that you know it's all true..what I've done...don't I frighten you?"

"Are you talking about this life, or the one before it?" Malon absently stroked his greasy, blonde hair. Link's mind told him that the question was supposed to be funny, that he was to laugh, but it didn't transfer to his face. ((So she really does believe me.))

"What you did in your past life was not bad. You saved everyone in Hyrule, and I'm sorry I can't remember it."

"You were not meant to. Nor was anyone. Just me and..."

"Her Royal Highness."

"You don't like her much, do you Malon?"

"We've never been on good terms."

"I suppose the same can be said for myself. At least, now it can." Malon scrunched her forehead in wonderment, and decided now was the time.

"I need you to tell me everything, Link. I need to know." Link sighed and without warning, abruptly removed himself from Malon's embrace and paced around the small, square cell. Malon just sat there in curiosity, determined to learn the truth.

"Well, where shall I start? Shall I start from the utmost beginning, or the point where I almost murdered the Princess Zelda?" Link asked sarcastically, somehow feeling a bit invaded. Who was he kidding? He had no one to blame but himself.

Malon's eyes widened in complete shock. Who would have known? The secrecy of the whole ordeal was astounding; she didn't know how the Princess pulled it off.

"Ok, I'll decide myself, since you seem to be incapable of words at the moment. As you know, the Princess sent me back in time after I had 'saved Hyrule.' What I didn't tell you was that when I got back, I was supposedly destined to travel through the lost woods and end up in a place called Termina. However, because of my...shall we say...predicament, my destined path was altered."

Malon looked at him with an expression that told Link she was beyond confusion.

"Ok, I'll start before that, then. I'll tell you what really happened in the water temple." All of a sudden the cell door opened and the guard came in to retrieve the red-head. Malon's head snapped up and she stared at the frantic guard.

"Gotta go, lady. Now."

"No! I can't go!" While Malon and the guard argued, Link made his way to a corner of his cell and disappeared among the shadows. Crawling silently along the wall, he eased his way past the distracted guard and out the cell door without the other two noticing. ((That was so fucking easy.)) Link felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach and felt the presence within him retreating into nothingness once more.


	3. Damsels in Distress

Chapter 2  
  
Link mumbled to himself as he walked silently through the winding corridors of Hyrule Castle. He pace was slow and precise, his eyes constantly darting back and forth, searching for any possible threats.  
  
"Oh goodie, here's one now," he said softly to himself.  
  
"Master, won't you just listen to me for a second?" Navi flew to his nose and Link halted in his tracks.  
  
"Why can't you just stay dead? Why must you always spy on me, you little heathen?"  
  
"Spy, master? I would not spy-"  
  
"I know *he* sent you here. Stop lying to me, else you might tempt my darker half." Link said this with a sly grin, the sane part of him instantaneously screaming at the mention of the other half, willing it not to take over.  
  
"Master, who is this 'he' you are referring to?" Link growled not so quietly and swatted at the fairy to send her sprawling through the air. Link was about to say something witty and cruel when he heard voices coming from the other end of the long passage. He turned to search for the fairy, afraid she would expose him, but found nothing there. Realizing she had withdrawn back into the recesses of his mangled mind, he made a mental note to squash her *before* she started talking the next time he decided to hallucinate. Re-focusing his attention on the commotion down the hallway, he slipped back up against the wall and secretly made his way down to the end to find himself standing in front of huge oak doors. He listened carefully to the voices within...  
  
"Don't fret, ladies. She just swooned temporarily, she will be fine in a few minutes."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
Link strained to identify the voices. ((Rauru..)) he thought with a slight growl escaping his lips. ((And Saria.)) He thought the last with a sigh.  
  
....this is the princess's chambers....  
  
Link again felt a stirring in his stomach, and though the presence within him was not completely awakened, the minute control Link had over his body was easily overpowered by the other's. The sane part of Link tried to push it away and told Link to just continue and get the hell out of there, but the other was much stronger.  
  
....you came here to do something, so I suggest you finish it now....  
  
"No," Link whispered softly, "not now, it wasn't meant to happen this way..."  
  
....fool. If not now, when? If you do not do it now, you never will. So get in there and do it. Do not mind the others, they are powerless to stop you....  
  
Link flattened his back against the oak doors and let out a big sigh, his forehead scrunching in concentration. He knew he could not overcome this...thing within him. He had managed it only once and the energy it drained nearly killed him. Ok, maybe not killed, but still.  
  
"Are you insane? There are two sages in there, counting Zelda there are three."  
  
....you benighted fool. It seems you have lost your touch...  
  
"I haven't lost my touch, I just..."  
  
...shut up and listen to the heartbeats in that room...  
  
Link again pressed his ear to the doors and listened for a few moments. Surely enough, there were not three but four heartbeats emanating from inside the chamber.  
  
"What the...who else is in there?"  
  
....think boy, think....  
  
Link stood there trying to listen but the presence within was beginning to grow impatient.  
  
....Impa you great fool! Have you lost all your senses? I should kill you....  
  
"Zip it. You can't kill me. If you somehow could, you wouldn't have anywhere to live and all that crap, so don't try to threaten me. All you can do is-"  
  
....take over your weak, pathetic excuse for a brain. You may not have noticed yet, but I am winning. It will only be a matter of time....  
  
"I'm still in control," ((barely.)) Link felt a sensation not unlike a snicker somewhere inside himself. "So shut your yap and let me think."  
  
...thinking to yourself does you no more good than trying evade the inevitable...  
  
Link rolled his eyes. So what if it could read his mind? Link sighed, knowing it was futile to try to hide anything from it.  
  
...you know it is useless. No matter what you lead yourself to believe...  
  
Link shook his head in annoyance. Exactly how many times had he heard something to that effect in the past? Too many to count. "We'll see about that." Link turned to continue walking down the corridor, but he could not. He hated to admit it, but his mind was losing the battle for sanity, and it would only be a matter of time before he fell completely into darkness.  
  
"Fine, I'll go in, but I'm not promising anything." What he felt then was, to say the least, a silent yet strong ringing in his ears. He realized after moments that it was the presence within him...laughing. ((Bastard.)) As he reached for the large handle on the door, something heavy plowed into him and he went sprawling across the tiled floor, the object pinning him to the ground.  
  
"You idiot! Do you realize what you were about to do?!" At the sound of her voice, Link pushed the girl off him so he could turn around and look at her.  
  
"Malon, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Malon stood up and straightened out her skirt. Wiping the dust off her blouse, she looked down at him, still laying on the floor and barely noticed the flicker of red dissipate from his eyes. It didn't register, however.  
  
"You idiot. You will be in serious danger if you try to go in there. I know that Saria is here because I saw her in the entrance hall with Impa when I was delivering milk. If you go in, they'll have your head!"  
  
"Slow down Malon, how did you know where I was? Where's-"  
  
"I sent the guard in the other direction once we realized you were gone. He was in a hurry to get me out of there because the head guy or whatever was supposedly coming back soon, and the only reason he let me in was because...ugh...because he thought I was 'cute.'"  
  
Malon twisted her face in a look of disgust. Link almost smiled at the look, almost. He noticed that she seemed to be her regular, bouncy self, as opposed to the serious, stern Malon he had met only moments ago. It was also then he realized that whenever he was in her presence, the one within him receded just slightly and he had enough control to talk to her in a, well, sane sort of matter.  
  
It occurred extremely odd to Link that he did indeed feel...almost rational. Whenever he had managed to be without "it" for a time, which was not often, he always found himself hallucinating (namely Navi) and acting without lucid cause. He was crazy in other words, though not when he was with her. Maybe she was the one who could help him...  
  
"You didn't answer my first question." Malon looked down at her shoes almost sheepishly, Link thought, and then glanced at the huge, wooden doors.  
  
"Well, I uhh...Ok. When I was little, my father used to bring me along with milk deliveries so I could watch him to eventually take over the business." Link finally stood and nodded his head, and Malon knew he was getting impatient. "I snooped around a lot, and I still know pretty much where everything is. It hasn't changed much, but I figured my best shot was to look for you near the princess's bedroom." Link almost looked guilty at that, but he would not let his emotions surface so easily. Instead he looked at Malon with heavy eyes, and she could see the pleading within them even though his face was stern and immediately took pity. Again.  
  
"You're coming home with me, Link. Let's get out of here before anyone finds you."  
  
Link nodded his head in mute agreement and pushed away the nagging in his brain that told him not to leave until the job was done. She grabbed for his hand, to both her and Link's surprise (and for some reason Link didn't complain), and they walked quickly yet cautiously down the hallway to find her carriage outside. Somehow, his feelings for Malon were stronger than those of the being inside him. ((Yup, I'm in-))  
  
....don't even think about saying that word....  
  
"Love." Malon stopped and looked at him, and for the first time she saw emotion on Link's face, though it was not what she expected. He looked almost panicky.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Uh, love is what I remember when I was a boy. A boy in a forest, with no real family, but friends who loved him. It's the first time in many years since I've felt..that way, and the first time I've ever been able to admit it." Link felt complete shock at himself as he uttered those words, and fear. They just came spilling right out. He was afraid that something horrible would happen to him because he allowed himself to express those kinds of feelings. He noticed the tingling that usually accompanied the taking over of his brain, but no such thing happened. The presence within him couldn't overtake his mind, it was almost poisonous now. It was filled with something that it dared not mingle with. Link did feel fear at first, but not regret. Just like that his emotions carried him away, reaching into crevices and abandoned nooks within himself he had forgotten about, leaving his darker half to sit in frustrated silence.  
  
Malon nodded and took his hand again, not saying anything and continuing down the hall. For the first time since he became the Hero of Time, Link no longer felt completely alone.  
  
*********************  
  
Rauru glanced at the doors that exited the chamber as he was attending to Zelda's forehead with a damp cloth. "Did anyone hear that?"  
  
Saria and Impa looked at each other briefly before looking at Zelda, who just shrugged her shoulders. The truth was, all three of them heard what was going on outside, but as the Sheikah was about to investigate, Zelda held her with a gaze that told her not to pursue the matter. Impa didn't pretend she knew what the princess was thinking, but in her own mind, cursed herself for letting the rogue she knew was out there get away. She had no desires, however, to displease her highness. Rauru, on the other hand, really *didn't* know what was going on.  
  
"It was nothing, Rauru. Don't worry yourself," Zelda said, looking at Impa and Saria knowingly, and with a little guilt. Impa walked over to Zelda's bed and sat down on the edge, looking at Saria who was stood firmly on the other side.  
  
"If it's not too much trouble, Saria, Rauru," Impa said, nodding to each of the two as she said their names, "I would like a word with Zelda. Alone." Rauru looked up from his ministrations but did not question the Sheikah.  
  
"Of course, Impa," he said politely and went to exit the room. He stopped at the doors and turned for Saria. "Come, little one." Saria gave Impa a questioning look but did not say anything and quickly hurried to Rauru's side. After they closed the doors, Impa stood and hovered over the princess.  
  
"With no disrespect intended, your highness, I demand an explanation as to what you were thinking. You know how dangerous he is. You cannot keep holding on to this fantasy that he will return to his normal self and everything will be just fine and dandy." Zelda looked at Impa, almost shocked at her choice of words. She had never known her to use such a forced tone, or an impatient one in all the years she'd cared for her. Impa had always been calm and collected about every situation, no matter its intensity, but this one clearly frightened her beyond belief. That knowledge scared Zelda senseless. It took her some time before she replied.  
  
"I-I just, I couldn't. I know that somewhere in his..."  
  
"That is ridiculous! Zelda, you know very well that your decision may have put lives in danger. I'm sorry for the disrespect I am showing, but I cannot allow this. I'm going after him."  
  
"No! No, wait." Zelda leapt out of her bed as Impa made haste to the doors. "I have an idea where he's going, and perhaps we can surprise him there." Impa contemplated this, and decided she'd go along with it.  
  
"Alright, but I suggest we hurry. Who knows what he might be doing at this point."  
  
"Thank you, Impa. We'll tell Saria to go back to the forest and wait there. Alert the other sages and tell them not to leave their provinces. Their people should be protected at all times now that he's out there."  
  
"A wise decision, Princess. I will get word out." Zelda halted a minute and put her hand on Impa to stop her.  
  
"No, wait." Zelda sighed and shook her head. "They will need explanations and I cannot chance the spreading of false rumors. I do not want my nation in a panic, we will go about this with precaution."  
  
"Agreed. You shall call a meeting to be held immediately." Zelda nodded and gathered her robes while Impa went to tell Saria and Rauru their plans. This was going to be a difficult task, but they- she.. had no choice. 


	4. Yeah, I Remember

Chapter 3  
  
"Karyn, Karyn!" Talon raced from the small farmhouse to meet the carriage coming up the path of Lon Lon Ranch. He noticed immediately that Malon seemed to be in need. "Karyn, get down here and help me!"  
  
Malon staggered out of her driver's seat and ran to the back of the transport to haul Link out. He'd gone into a conniption fit on the way from the castle and was in a state of shock, scaring the life out of Malon in the process. She hadn't known what was happening, and thought it best to take her chances and travel nonstop back to the ranch where she would have help in aiding him.  
  
"Father! Help me take him to the guest room." Talon grabbed Link under the arms while Malon held his feet and they proceeded to take him into the house.  
  
"I wonder where your step-mother is! I can't seem to find her anywhere."  
  
"Less talk Father, more maneuvering," Malon said in between gasps of breath, "She's probably in the milk tower." Once they finally got him up the stairs and into the guest bed, Malon sank down into a chair and tried to calm herself. ((Goddesses he's heavy.)) Talon had noticed that the girl had been shaking and was a bit paler than normal. Link lay motionless on the bed, unconscious, but breathing deeply to both Talon and Malon's relief.  
  
It had been a while since Talon had seen the boy last, and wondered what brought him here under such mysterious circumstances. He didn't mind, of course, he would always welcome the best friend of his only daughter into his home. Time, however, would soon change his mind.  
  
"Malon, daughter, tell me what in the blazes is goin' on here?" Malon sighed and wiped some sweat off of her forehead. "What happened to the poor lad?"  
  
"Not here Father, let's talk in the kitchen."  
  
Malon led her father into the kitchen and sat down at the table across from him. She felt exhausted.  
  
"I cannot tell you fully what I have learned for Link's safety as well as my own, you understand?" Talon nodded and waited patiently for her to continue. "I found him in the dungeon keeps of the castle, Father." Talon's eyes widened and he was about to say something but Malon held up her hand.  
  
"You cannot utter a word about this to anyone. We would be in a great deal of danger. I know what you're thinking Father, but I couldn't let him rot down there. He has not yet told me the extent of his story, but I know he will soon." Talon sat for a moment in shocked silence, trying to reason which question would be best to ask first.  
  
"How did you escape? Surely the palace guards would have stopped you!" Malon nodded and smiled sadly, for she knew there would be severe consequences once the princess found out.  
  
"I put him in one of the extra milk crates in the storage room. A guard did stop me to ask why I was taking it back...I told him the milk had spoiled. Luckily he believed me and didn't open the crate. He kindly assisted me in lifting the crate into our carriage and that was the end of that.  
  
"As we were on our way back home, I heard a cracking sound and realized I had stupidly left Link in the crate once we were out of New Castle Town's perimeters. I stopped the horses and went to go free him, but he had broken through the wood like it was nothing. The next thing I knew, Link had some sort of fit and went into shock, and we were back on the road. He started thrashing around in the hay and I wasn't exactly sure what I was to do."  
  
"You were right to bring him straight here. I will go find Karyn," Talon said somewhat flatly. He stood abruptly and was about to go, but turned and looked at his daughter for a brief second. Her head was down and a pure look of shame crossed her features. "I will speak of this to no one but your step-mother, Malon. But if he is indeed a fugitive, you know we will not be able to harbor him here for much longer."  
  
With that said, Talon left the house and Malon sluggishly went upstairs to the guest room. She knew her father was upset with her, but he would not put them in any more danger than they already were in. She knew she could trust him, as well as Karyn. ((Karyn....))  
  
Malon thought of the first time she had ever met Karyn as she went to sit down again next to Link. She was only six years old when her father proposed marriage to the strange woman, only a year after her mother had died. At first she was very upset with her father for so easily dismissing her mother, but as the years went on, she realized how much he needed Karyn in his life. Though Malon didn't think it possible at first, she had grown very fond of her step-mother and thought of her as one of the only people beside her father she felt she could fully trust.  
  
There was also another that lived on the ranch that her father hired not long after her mother had died. Malon despised him with every fibre of her being, and for the life of her could not understand why her father hadn't fired the bumbling drunk when Karyn came into their lives. Perhaps he felt pity for the great fool, though Malon couldn't see how that was possible. Ingo was a dishonest, despicable character who had no moral values. Surely if he found out about Link there would be hell to pay, but he rarely ever came into the farmhouse unless he was invited, which was on a very, *very* rare occasion. Malon wouldn't let it worry her, for now.  
  
She sat back against the wall and started thinking of her mother. It was such a long time ago, nearly 10 years since she died. Her thoughts wandered forward in time to Karyn, who had significantly made Malon's life easier. Then there was Link....  
  
Malon remembered vividly the first day she had met Link. She was out in the pastures of Lon Lon Ranch when she heard yelling coming from inside the stables. She ran frantically towards them to see if her father had been trying to lift the milk wagon all by himself again. When she got to the door, she looked in and saw a young boy her age struggling with the reigns of her most precious horse, who would not let him pull her out of her stall.  
  
"HEY! What do you think you're doing to my horse?!" Link looked up right as the horse yanked on the reigns and sent him flying into the water bucket. Malon couldn't help but burst out laughing, running to help the mischievous young boy out. She pulled out a sopping wet boy by his arm and stood him up on his feet.  
  
"I'm sorry about your horse..I.."  
  
"It's ok, a pipsqueak like you wouldn't have gotten her far," Malon said, chuckling.  
  
"Hey! I am NOT a pipsqueak!" Malon quieted herself down and held out her hand.  
  
"Come on, I'll take you inside to get dry. My name's Malon, by the way."  
  
"I kn- err... mine's Link."  
  
"Link huh? That sounds somehow familiar." Link smiled to himself and took the farm girl's hand. "How old are you, Link?"  
  
"I'm seven. How old are you?"  
  
"Wow, cool! I'm seven too. Just turned a month ago. Come on, I'll take you to meet my father."  
  
Malon sighed as she remembered the next three years to follow that. He had told her everything, from his Kokiri home to meeting the Princess, to saving Hyrule. How was she supposed to react? She took him for a big story teller, though she did not mind at all. She loved the stories.  
  
Then one day, he disappeared. Just like that. She had just celebrated her tenth birthday, and Link was nowhere to be found. Neither was her horse, Epona. To say that Malon was upset about it was a huge understatement.  
  
Not quite five years later, Link showed up on her doorstep ( so to speak, considering she doesn't really *have* a door step), shaking and bruised. She immediately forgot she was mad at him and took him in. For nearly a month she tried getting through to him, tried to get him to talk to her. No such luck.  
  
She would constantly wake up in the middle of the night to hear muffled screams coming from the guest room. Trying her best to comfort him, she would hold him and tell him that they were just silly dreams, none of them could hurt him. He would never respond, so she would just quietly hum her mother's tune softly in his ear.  
  
Then one particular night as she held him he had told her in gasping breaths that he did not sleep, they were not dreams, but "Memories, Malon. My own haunting past. Waking dreams."  
  
He was gone by the next morning. Six weeks. And now she knew. It wasn't enough though, she didn't have the answers she wanted. She knew what had happened, but she didn't know *why*. That was what was killing her.  
  
Baffled by so many good and bad memories, her head swarming with questions and emotions, Malon did the only thing she could to give her some sort of peace. Humming her mother's song softly, she shrieked and jumped up when she heard his voice.  
  
"In all this time, I have never forgotten that tune, and I never will." Link sat up slowly and rested his head against the headboard of the bed.  
  
"You're awake," Malon said softly while moving forward, making to sit on the edge of his bed.  
  
"I wasn't really asleep, though you thought I was."  
  
"You were unconscious."  
  
"Was I?" Link asked, looking as if he hadn't known. He looked up at her then and asked her a question with his eyes that Malon seemed to understand.  
  
"Yes, I told my father, but I did not tell him every detail." Link nodded in understanding.  
  
"Did you tell him about..."  
  
"No, I didn't tell him about Zelda." Link nodded again.  
  
"What about in the carriage, when I..."  
  
"No, I didn't tell him that either." Link then did something that surprised Malon beyond words. He leaned forward and kissed the red spots that blanketed her neck. Malon closed her eyes for a moment and Link pulled back.  
  
"I am truly sorry for that Malon." Malon shivered slightly.  
  
"Link, I won't pretend to understand why...what happened, happened. If you would just tell me what's wrong with you I'd know." Link sat back and remembered how he had burst through that milk crate and grabbed Malon's neck, almost strangling her. He had thought her to be Navi...he saw her while he was trapped in there, floating above his face, 'Master, master, master' she said, driving Link insane. When he had felt the carriage stop, Navi flew out of a small crack that was in the crate and he had broken through intending to kill the fairy, only he grabbed a hold of Malon.  
  
She didn't scream, just gasped and flailed helplessly while Link continued to squeeze her neck, waiting until the moment he found himself again. When he did, he'd gone into a conniption fit and thrashed about. Malon, tears streaming down her face and staggering, found her way clumsily back to the front of the carriage and took off at the speed of lightning.  
  
Link sighed and ran a hand through his dirty hair.  
  
"Malon, you don't understand why I left."  
  
"Well make me understand, Link." She searched his eyes to find something. What it was she was looking for, she didn't know. When she didn't find it she looked down at her hands resting on the bed, and was about to get up and say 'forget it' when Link took her hand.  
  
"This isn't going to be easy for you to hear and it isn't going to be easy for me to tell. So try to keep an open mind and don't say anything until I'm finished. Understood?" Malon said nothing and a tear streamed down her face. He must've been through something awful.  
  
"Like I said before, I might as well tell you what really happened in the Water Temple."  
  
"I'm ready to know, Link." Link looked at her and sighed, absently rubbing his left arm. Link told her of the mirror-like-lake and the evil demon inside.  
  
"...I thought I had won, Malon. I thought I had destroyed it. But then something unimaginable happened, something that I will never forgive myself for. It had warned me earlier of my anger making it more powerful, but I dismissed it as cheap, provocative talk. It told me that my hatred had blinded me, and that my anger would destroy me.  
  
"I looked down at my sword, which was imbedded in the stomach of the monster, Dark Link, and it started to glow. I could not let go of it. My arm started to throb and a searing pain shot through it, my sword was jerking violently. Dark Link had disappeared and I could have sworn I heard a ringing in my head like laughing.  
  
"Then I realized what he had done. His magic had somehow flowed into the sword..." Malon stared at him. She didn't understand.  
  
"He stayed in the sword then?"  
  
"No. Malon, that is where I made my first fatal mistake." Link rubbed his left arm again and flexed his fingers, as if he hadn't moved them in a long while. "I thought, as you did, that he was inside my sword and meant to stay there. But I was wrong.  
  
"Yes, he was inside until after I had defeated Ganon. Then, the bastard, broke our d..." Link trailed off suddenly.  
  
"What Link?"  
  
"He didn't stay inside the sword after that. He used the sword to transfer completely into my body through the course of time it took me to complete my quest." ((You were deceiving me the whole time, fucker.)) Malon leapt off the bed and shook her head at him. She didn't believe what she was hearing.  
  
"No, Link, you got him out of there, right? He's not...he can't be..." Link stood then, too, and moved toward Malon, who only moved back away from him. He was afraid of this.  
  
"No, Malon. He's still in here." That explained a lot, she realized. She then completely broke down in tears and slumped to the ground, her back sliding against the wall. Link sat at the foot of the bed. "I'm not quite finished yet." Malon just sat there silently sobbing, so Link didn't wait for her to respond before he continued.  
  
"When Zelda sent me back in time, something went wrong and I ended up coming back three years before I was supposed to. Don't ask me how I know, I just know I wasn't destined to meet you until after...well, I'll get to that later.  
  
"You have to keep in mind that I still didn't know Dark Link was inside *me*, instead of the Master Sword, which had remained in the temple after I came back. I thought I'd be rid of him for good, though I wasn't completely sure what would become of him and the Master Sword.  
  
"The day you met me, was the day I had decided I was going to go find my real home, my real parents, if they were still alive. I wanted to find all that out. I figured since I'd already known you, you'd understand, but I easily forgot that you *didn't* know me. Something then changed my mind, and I didn't want to leave."  
  
Malon looked up at him through a mass of tears and red hair.  
  
"Then why did you leave?! I thought I'd never see you again dammit!"  
  
"Please, Malon.." In that instant Link felt a tugging somewhere inside him immediately followed by a tingling sensation. ((No, not now. No no no. IloveherIloveherIloveherIloveher.)) Link closed his eyes tightly and willed Dark Link to go away. Malon didn't seem to notice. It worked. Link's blue eyes flickered to a shade of red before turning normal again. He sighed.  
  
Taking his chances, Link walked over to Malon and slumped down beside her, putting his arm around her shaking shoulders. She tensed up at first, then gradually allowed herself to be pulled into Link's arms, like she had done before in his cell. She closed her eyes and stayed quiet while Link went on with his story.  
  
"One morning, I think it was a couple days after my 10th established birthday, I was walking through the fields when I felt a strange tugging inside. That's when I realized all hell was going to break loose." Malon said something then, and Link barely caught it.  
  
"That was a week before my birthday...before you disappeared."  
  
"I didn't know what it was at the time, but I began to feel a strange sensation in my mind every time I thought about my past and what I had done. Then somehow it all became clear to me. It was that day I heard the voice for the first time." Link closed his eyes and remembered the agony that accompanied the voice and his stumbling.  
  
'....so, thought you'd be rid of me eh? Not by a long shot boy, not by a long shot!....' 


	5. House Arrest

Chapter 4  
  
"What did the voice say, Link?" Malon asked quietly as she looked up at him.  
  
"He just told me that I would never be rid of him. I was confused at first, but as he continued to probe my mind and speak to me I finally figured out what had happened. There was a point in my battle with Ganon, in fact, it was the moment I drove my sword into the ugly beast's head," Link cringed at the memory, "I felt it then too.  
  
"I felt Dark Link, I felt the power surge into my arm and at that time I figured I was getting a rush from finally killing Ganon. Boy was I wrong. That last blow I dealt with every bit of hatred I had inside me, and I suppose it was enough for Dark Link to 'feed' on." Malon still was silent, and Link supposed she was trying to absorb all of his information at once. It would be a hard thing to do.  
  
"After I realized I was the host of Dark Link's magic, I had no choice but to flee. You have to understand that, Malon. You have to understand that I couldn't sit around Hyrule and wait for his power to manifest within me. It might've destroyed people I..care about." Malon still said nothing.  
  
"Anyway, I took Epona and fled into the Lost Woods. And that's how I ended up in Termina. I hoped that somehow I could find a way to rid myself of Dark Link before he completely destroyed my mind." Malon looked up at him this time, and spoke finally.  
  
"I thought you said to me before that your 'destined path was altered.' You said that you were supposed to go to Termina but you didn't..." Link chuckled lightly for the first time since Malon had found him nearly two months ago.  
  
"I meant that I was supposed to go to Termina right after Zelda sent me back. I was not supposed to relive those three years I spent with you. You could call it Dark Link's sick little joke."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"Dark Link needed time to harvest his power in me before I did anything 'courageous.' That way when he struck, it would take me out completely and only he would remain."  
  
"I'm still lost." Link sighed and told Malon of his adventures in Termina, of the people he met there and their resemblance to those of the people in Hyrule. He told her of the masks, the salesman, the Skullkid and Majora's Mask, told her of the suicidal moon, and of Kafei...  
  
"It was Kafei who helped me through it all. I would not have survived otherwise."  
  
"Yes, but what of Dark Link's power? Why did he need all that time?"  
  
"I do not quite understand it myself, Malon, but I believe Ganondorf was behind it." Malon gasped. How could he have been? It didn't make sense to her. "I believe he had some manipulation over the events in Termina, just for me. He needed a back-up plan, something to get me out of Hyrule. He was a sorcerer after all, but he didn't know how wrong his plans would go.  
  
"Dark Link thought it would be best to take me out when people were in dire need of my services, to make it that much more sweet. He had all the time he wanted, why not make it good for himself?" What he didn't tell her was that Dark Link also intended for Link to hurt Malon in some way.  
  
It was still an issue for Link, and he knew if something wasn't done he would lose the battle for his soul in less time than imaginable, leaving others around him in danger.  
  
Malon shook her head in utter disbelief and finally removed herself from the position she had been in for the last couple of hours. She stretched her limbs and started to pace around the room. Link didn't pay attention to her and continued.  
  
"I had a small amount of control over myself then, and it remains that way now. But I *am* still in control, most of the time," then, mumbling to himself, "the Fierce Deity mask nearly destroyed what was left of me..."  
  
"What did you say Link?"  
  
"Nothing." Link stood then and went to sit down by the window. "Have you ever just stopped to look at the sky? It's a remarkable thing, the sky...  
  
Malon didn't seem to hear him nor did she really care. She just wanted all of her questions answered. "Why did you stay away for so long?" Link turned his head to look at her.  
  
"I needed my own time, to learn how to deal with the demon inside. I have to admit that it was pretty much futile, but it has allowed me some control. I fear that I would be gone already." He scratched his head then, suddenly realizing something.  
  
"In all the time I was in Termina, never once had I dreamt of the past. Not once. Until I came back to Hyrule. And that's when it began again..." Malon understood what he was saying, but did not know how to reply. "I never slept while I stayed here, Malon, just dreamt. Not the dreams you have when you're unconscious, the dreams you have when you're awake, waking dreams. Like I've told you before.  
  
"They got the best of me, Malon. I snapped completely. The dark elf had had enough, and he told me his wishes. I would have fulfilled them too." Link walked over to where Malon was standing and put both his hands on her shoulders. She seemed so frail to him, so small. He was a good head taller than her and she seemed like a young child next to him.  
  
"It was not the guards that saved Zelda that night Malon. They wouldn't have been able to stop me. It was I, something happened to me that I cannot explain. For a split second, I overcame Dark Link when I thought it not possible in the least. I allowed them to take me away, lock me up, take the sword from me." Malon just stared into his eyes and touched his cheek gently before looking away and pulling away from his touch.  
  
"You are stronger than you think, and you will be able to fight this," she said with the utmost certainty. Link smiled at her, the first genuine smile that touched his eyes since he was 10. Five long years, and who knew how many more to come. He had the body of a fifteen year old, but his mind was far from childhood, far from young adulthood. He was an old man, worn by time and scarred by battle. He was scarred on the inside by a demon that had drained what was left of his innocence. He would never be young again, no matter how much he traveled through time. His mind would always remain the same.  
  
Malon seemed to have been stripped of her childhood at an early age as well. She'd had to take on a big role at the ranch when her mother died, and still when her father re-married. She had a tremendous weight of responsibility on her shoulders and it didn't escape anyone's attention. She was a very mature 15 year old. Link sat down on the bed again and sighed for the hundredth time that day.  
  
"I see Navi in my head, out in the open, anytime there's a moment between Dark Link's control and insanity." Malon looked at him strangely.  
  
"Does she uhh, speak to you?" Link knew she found this somewhat amusing.  
  
"Sometimes...." Link stared blankly at the floor, as if he didn't know whether or not to believe himself. "Eh, sorry Malon." She smiled at him.  
  
"It's ok, Link. You still have more to explain to me," Link sighed as she said this. "But I'll give you a break for now. You should lay down and rest if you can." Malon then wordlessly left the room and left Link alone with his own thoughts. Not to mention those of Dark Link.  
  
...you did not tell her the whole truth. You must not love her as much as you thought you did...  
  
"Arg, go away. I don't need your comments."  
  
...don't get angry with me, you know what it can mean...  
  
"Yeah, and every time you decide to wake up I should just *let* you take over, right? Wrong. So shut up."  
  
....silence!....  
  
"No, I'm talking, I can talk when I want, you can't tell me when I can or can't-" Link doubled over in pain and put his hands on his head as the demon tried to magnify it's power, making Link lightheaded.  
  
....you have been stubborn thus far and I'm growing rather tired of your righteous charades. Just give in to me and put yourself out of your misery...  
  
...don't you remember the good times? The times when we worked together? Let me take control...  
  
"N..never...not when I can still...beat you..."  
  
...have it your way. Tell me Link, do you remember what you said to me after you asked for my help in the temple? You told me you'd give me anything I wanted. Well this is what I want, so it's up to you to hold up your end of the deal....  
  
"Screw you, you piece of crap. You broke our deal long before, and so you released me from any sort of promise with the breaking of that deal!  
  
...no matter. I will have what I want soon enough. Unlike you, I have patience. I can wait....  
  
"Burn in hell."  
  
.........  
  
"Oh shut up." Link's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed on the floor, not quite unconscious, but too far gone to have noticed anything going on around him. A small flicker of light appeared on Link's hand as he lay sprawled on the floor, and Navi sighed as she realized she would have to wait yet *again* for her master to wake up.  
  
********Meanwhile************  
  
Talon searched for his wife in the milk tower and wasn't surprised when he found her sitting on the milk crates reading. She and Talon walked back to the farmhouse so he could discuss with her the situation currently at hand. She was surprised when she heard the news of Link and wondered what he could've possibly done. Ever since Malon had become friends with him, Karyn had grown very fond of him and was delighted that he could bring so much joy to the girl she considered her own daughter.  
  
"What of the king, Talon? What will he have to say about this?" Karyn sat down at the table and poured some milk for both of them.  
  
"The king has yet to return from his crusades, love. He has been gone for nearly four years."  
  
"Princess Zelda is as young as Malon, but has been a fine ruler in her father's stead." Karyn nervously tugged at her strawberry-blonde hair, a habit of hers when she was anxious. "Oh Talon, what are we going to do?" He opened his mouth, ready to reply when they heard someone coming down the stairs.  
  
"Oh good, you found her," Malon said as she took a seat next to Karyn. The look on her face told Malon that her father had already informed her of the recent events. It was not an angry look, it was just sad and somewhat concerned. Karyn put her hand over Malon's. "Don't worry darling, we'll figure this out...." She was cut off by a knocking on the front door. Malon got up and was about to go see who it was, but Talon motioned for her to sit back down. Opening the door, he was a bit taken aback when he saw two armed guards standing there.  
  
"This is the Lon Lon residence, is it not, Sir?" Talon looked at the guard uneasily but nodded his head firmly.  
  
"Yes, this is Lon Lon Ranch..."  
  
"Therefore, I hereby place you and all other residents of Lon Lon Ranch under house arrest. This is the royal decree of Her Highness and will be observed by all parties until otherwise stated." By now, both Malon and Karyn were standing behind Talon, and the guard standing next to the one that had spoken gave Malon a very dirty look. The guard then handed Talon the roll of parchment he had just read and turned to leave.  
  
"What does this mean?" Talon blurted.  
  
"This means, Sir, that if you or any of your family leave this premise, we are authorized to arrest you accordingly and hold you at our will. So I suggest you stay put." With that, the soldiers got on their horses and trotted through the gates of Lon Lon Ranch. Talon heard pounding a few minutes later, and realized with grief that one of the soldiers was posting a sign at their gates, warning any passers-by that the ranch was off limits to any visitors, and informing any imperial soldiers the now current state of the premises.  
  
The two guards were riding back to the palace at a leisurely pace and chatting amongst themselves.  
  
"Why in the name of Farore didn't Princess Zelda just have that girl arrested? The whole castle knows by now what happened. If she was really an accomplice to..."  
  
"Hold your tongue. We do not question the actions of our Highness, we do them without complaint and without inquiry." The guard who had spoken first looked down guiltily at his steed. "But...if I were able to speak freely, which I am not, I would agree whole-heartedly with you. That little wench must pay for deceiving the princess."  
  
The guard looked up at his fellow with a sly grin and they rode faster back to the palace. 


	6. Damnable Fairy

Chapter 5  
  
Zelda entered the conference room in her full 'princess attire' and sat at the head of the rectangular table. She had not wanted to make any of this a public matter, and had a solid confidence that her fellow sages would not betray her wishes. Word had been spread around the palace quickly enough and while this worried Zelda, she didn't want to make a huge deal out of it. Link was still a hero to her, and if he somehow got over this, she did not want anyone looking down on him.  
  
She knew that all who worked for her father were as loyal to her as they were to him, so she would not trouble herself over the fact that there were rumors spreading throughout the palace. It was, even to her, a miracle she had kept it secret for this long already.  
  
"Good evening to you all, and thank you so much for arriving promptly. I have a serious matter on my hands, and before I begin I must ask you all a favor."  
  
"Whatever we can do to help you, our friend, we will do without hesitation."  
  
"Your loyalty and friendship are more than appreciated at this hour of need, Darunia, and for that I thank you." Then, speaking to all, "I ask you, no, I beg of you, that if my father should return, he shall not learn of *anything* that has happened, or of anything that I will tell you." Zelda looked at every sage in the room and each gave their solemn word.  
  
Impa, however hesitated at first and whispered quietly, "Do you think that wise, my lady?" The look on Zelda's face gave her enough confirmation, and without further delay Impa gave her vow.  
  
"Now that is settled, we should move on. Approximately two weeks ago, I was attacked by the most unlikely suspect. It was late into the night, and I do not know how he got in, but it doesn't surprise me that he did." Nabooru looked at the young princess in curiosity.  
  
"Were you hurt?" the Spirit Sage asked.  
  
"No Nab, I was not hurt. I was, however, in a great deal of shock afterward, and yesterday was the first day I came out of it."  
  
"You were in shock for two weeks Zelda? It must've been..." Zelda put up her hand to stop any further questions. Ruto nodded her head in apology for interrupting.  
  
"Please, allow me to finish. I have not been able to tell the full story as of yet, but I plan to right now. I was not physically hurt, but I was emotionally. My attacker was none other than Link." Zelda heard the gasps from around the room, and was glad that none of them bombarded her with questions.  
  
But what Zelda didn't tell them, was that Link had cut her. He had somehow managed to get the Master Sword to do it too, but what he did before the guards came would be burned on her memory for the rest of her days. He took the tip of the Master Sword and cut a symbol of the Triforce just above her left breast, saying, "Now it is yours, all of it." With glistening eyes Zelda cried out and he put his hand over her mouth to quiet her. It was then the guards came rushing in, Link dropping the Master Sword, kicking and cursing as they dragged him away. Zelda sat there, breathless and unable to speak. No one knew of the scar above her left breast.  
  
Zelda sighed and urged herself to continue.  
  
"I have no idea what motivated him to do such a thing, but I remember seeing something terrible in his eyes that night. I know for sure he was not himself." Zelda gave Impa a glace, and sure enough the older woman gave a small 'humph.' Zelda knew that Impa cared strongly for her, as did the rest of them, but she did not understand why the older sage didn't believe in her. Or in Link, for that matter.  
  
She supposed a betrayal as great as the attempted murder of herself was enough cause for Impa to disregard any possibilities that Link might still have some good in him. But Zelda would not give up on him. He had gone through too much, and all for her. She would never forget his words when she sent him back that last day, the day he had finally beaten Ganon.  
  
"My destiny?! Fuck you! Do you have any clue as to what I've been through? And for you, no less!" The words had hurt her immensely, but she told herself that she had no choice. She wanted him to regain his lost childhood, live the life of a normal child. She should have known that such a fate was not possible for him. He was the Hero of Time, and because of that status, though it was not known in this time and world, he was destined for an irregular life.  
  
She did not know exactly where he went after she sent him back, but she hadn't seen him until that very night. She knew he went elsewhere after about three years, because though he did not know, she could still feel the connection between them, and after about five years, the connection had been abruptly cut off.  
  
Zelda realized her mind was wandering when Ruto again spoke.  
  
"Where is he, Zelda? Did you have him arrested?" Zelda came back to herself and looked at the Zora.  
  
"Oh, yes. I did have him arrested, and I had planned to talk to him after I was well enough. But someone got there first, and he escaped. I knew that he would be capable of such a thing, but only posted one guard at his door." The sages stirred in their seats. Who knew what Link was capable of now, or if he was even sane? No one knew.  
  
"Do you know exactly where he is now? He could be anywhere," Darunia said.  
  
"I know where he is, and I'm confident that he won't leave there for a while. The guard said a red-head had visited him that morning, though I had specifically stated that no visitors would be permitted and he will be punished for that, and after that I knew who it was and where he was going. I have placed Lon Lon Ranch under house arrest until I can go there myself. I figured it would be easiest that way." The fact the guard had told her it was a red-head who had visited confirmed her suspicions right there and then that he had left with Malon. "It was Malon who helped him escape? That is very odd." That was Nabooru. Leaning closer to Zelda, Saria whispered in her ear, "You know she feels the same way you do. She feels that there is good in him as well." Zelda smiled at the Kokiri girl.  
  
"Yes Saria," she whispered back, "I did this to keep them out of harm's way until I can speak with them myself."  
  
"I understand. Just don't be too hard on Malon. You know her intentions are good." Zelda frowned slightly at that.  
  
"You know the consequences for defying royalty, Saria, and I cannot promise you anything. I will have to punish Link, even, if only slightly." Zelda and Malon had never really spoken to each other before, but Zelda knew what she was like from this life and past, and something inside her twisted when she thought of the farm girl. Is it jealousy? ((Of course I'm not jealous. That is ridiculous.))  
  
The service of the Lon Lon's was greatly appreciated throughout the nation, and perhaps Zelda could use that as an excuse to lessen the severity of whatever punishment she might come up with. Still, she felt an incredible rage building inside her at the farm girl. She knew things would not go smoothly between the two.  
  
"Now, I want to make sure that each of you understands the situation completely, so if you have any questions, you are to ask them freely." Zelda looked around the room to meet every pair of eyes to ensure they all understood.  
  
"It is critical that each province of Hyrule is tightly secured, which will require all of you to remain in your own provinces at all times until I give word, or, until the King returns. I will have to sever communication with most of you, and you know what that means. In case of any emergency, you will not be able to aid me. I need you not to leave your domains at any cost. They must be protected." Each sage gave a quick nod and did not press the princess any further. Zelda noticed that Rauru had stayed quiet the entire time.  
  
"You may all be dismissed." All but Rauru said their good-byes and left the room to return to their homes, Impa, deciding she would go to Kakariko village and remain there until she was needed in the other realm.  
  
"What is it, Rauru?"  
  
"I do not know, Highness. I feel a twinge of dread coming from the east. I cannot explain it." Zelda looked at Rauru with concern.  
  
"My father is supposed to be in the east now. I have not heard from him in so many years." Zelda had lost her father once to Ganondorf, and she did not want to lose him again. Rauru gave her a reassuring smile.  
  
"You have done well, Princess, you are a great ruler. The responsibility that weighs down on you, you have not let fall. You have held it up with a quiet grace and confidence. We all have faith in you." A tear escaped Zelda's eye at his words. He had no idea how much she needed to hear that.  
  
"I will go east, Zelda, past Termina and the forests and on to Ormistad. I will look for your father." At this Zelda threw her arms around Rauru's large frame and hugged him tightly. She realized that she had thought of Rauru as her father figure throughout these four years, and she didn't know how she would've managed without him.  
  
"Thank you so much Rauru, for everything." With that, Rauru smiled and stepped back into the light shining through a tall window of the room, and disappeared.  
  
Zelda sank to the ground, put her head in her lap and cried.  
  
******************  
  
Link opened his eyes and, to his dismay, the first thing he saw was a little, white ball of light. ((Oh crap,)) he thought to himself. Without waiting for her to say anything he snatched her up in his fist and prepared to squeeze the life out of her. A thought suddenly occurred to him.  
  
"Hmm, maybe I should just trap her..." Slowly getting up, Link made his way to the night stand beside his bed and grabbed the small glass that was there. Opening his hand just slightly, he put the glass over the frantic fairy and slid his hand out. Sitting on the night stand now, he had his own little pet fairy. He laughed inwardly at the thought.  
  
"Let's see you try to get back to your real master now." Link had made it up in his mind that Navi was created and sent here to spy on him for a warlord he had once met by the name of Eiraki. It somehow didn't surprise him much that destiny would run him into a distant cousin of Ganondorf.  
  
Eiraki had captured Link on the premise that he had "trespassed" into his land. Link had challenged him to a duel for his freedom, and had won. Eiraki was a little miffed about it, and had sworn vengeance on him. Link told him what he had done to Ganondorf, but the warlord didn't seem to care at all about it. He just wanted his dignity back.  
  
((Good luck in accomplishing that,)) Link thought.  
  
Link had figured out that Eiraki wasn't evil, like Ganondorf, just proud. If that meant killing someone or something, so be it. He wasn't unreasonable, but a pain in the ass no less. If only Link could kill Navi.  
  
Link had the chance to kill Eiraki, but he didn't want to. He just wanted to be let go. Dark Link, on the other hand, did want to kill him, and it was all Link could do to not let his darker half take over the duel. Maybe if-  
  
"Hey, it's morning now Link." Link looked up from the night stand and saw Malon in the door, her face dirty with tear stains. He walked over to her and hugged her to his chest.  
  
"What's wrong Malon?" Malon allowed herself to be comforted by him.  
  
"Well, for starters, we're all under house arrest. And I just know Princess Zelda will be here any day to come take you away. Who knows what she'll do to you, and to us," she said into his shirt. Link sadly pushed her away from him and turned to sit on the bed. Malon looked at him silently.  
  
"I should go."  
  
"Go? Go where?" Link sighed.  
  
"To the palace."  
  
"You can't Link, you're crazy. You can't..."  
  
"I have to. I have to speak with Zelda." Malon's sad face then became angry and she threw her hands up in the air.  
  
"Fine, Link. Go to the palace and get your head chopped off. Have a good time," she said irately and stormed down the stairs. Link sighed again and looked to the now empty, overturned glass that was resting on the night stand.  
  
"Damnable fairy."  
  
*****************  
  
Link stayed in his room the entire day after that. The next day at around noon, he walked down the stairs to find Malon so he could tell her that he'd decided he'd stay a few more days before returning to the castle. Karyn was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Link stopped at the bottom stair to look at her. She was tall and slender with shoulder-length hair, lighter in color than Malon's but with a tint of red. Link realized that Malon had almost the same build, but was shorter and a bit more muscular. Karyn had a graceful air about her.  
  
"Long time no see, Karyn," Link said as he moved to the table. Karyn spun around in surprise and gasped.  
  
"Link? Is that you? Goddesses boy you've grown. You look almost 20." Link smiled inwardly at the remark. He was much older, and he supposed his fifteen year old body looked older as well. Karyn set down a dish rag and went to hug him, but he took a step back and stared at her with warning in his eyes. Karyn dropped her outstretched arms and folded them across her chest nervously, not knowing what to say. Link wanted to hug her, but Dark Link wanted to do something more. Link dare not get too close to her for fear of losing control.  
  
"It's good to see you again, Karyn." With that, Link stepped out of the farmhouse and into the bright sun in search for Malon. He shielded his eyes, not quite used to the daylight after so many weeks of darkness. He entered the stables and found Malon brushing down one of the horses. She turned when she heard him come in, and made an effort to hide herself from him behind the horse.  
  
"What a surprise to see you here, I figured you'd be gone by now." Link couldn't help but feel a little guilty, but why should he? Why should she even care? He was nothing but an insane, confused, possessed warrior. ((Warrior. I guess I never really thought of myself that way.))  
  
He was about to say something when he heard the brush Malon had drop to the ground and quiet sobbing. He felt something inside him constrict, and he couldn't figure out why he felt this way. He knew he cared for Malon, as well as many others, but his emotions had been melting away, day by day for five years, into nothingness. He couldn't deny, however, that he had very strong feelings for Malon.  
  
Walking over to where she was standing, he took her face in his hands and wiped the tears away with his thumb. Her face was contorted into a look of pain, her eyes tightly closed. Link hesitated for a moment, but then hurriedly brought his mouth down over Malon's and she squawked in surprise but did not open her eyes. She timidly responded at first which made Link grow impatient, so he hardened the kiss and shoved his tongue inside her mouth.  
  
Malon gasped when she felt Link's tongue inside her mouth and he was pressing so hard she thought it would make her lips bleed. He was kissing her with a savage hunger and his hands began to move over her body with boldness. He grabbed her in places that he should not have, and squeezed. Malon moaned loudly into his mouth and absently ground herself against him, which made him nearly lose his mind. He kissed harder in response, if that was at all possible. Her hands were all over his back, fluttering as he caressed her body with his own. The second time Malon rubbed herself against his most sensitive spot, he came back to himself. He realized that he was not acting on his own desires (ok, he was, he *really* wanted this, but he cared too much for her), but on those of his darker half. He would have never done so bold a thing if the nagging in his mind hadn't pushed him the extra mile.  
  
He abruptly shoved her away from him and she fell against the back wall, panting and gasping, and apparently upset. He knew he had hurt her, emotionally. She didn't cry, but the tears were close, lingering.  
  
"Why did you do that? Why can't you just tell me how you really feel?" she said quietly.  
  
"That's impossible for me, Malon," he said without looking at her, his tone and face void of any emotion.  
  
"You do know you're twisting my heart in knots? I know that you're..you have your problems, but, I can't take this anymore." He knew, he knew it and he hated himself for it. But he couldn't deal with this now, not ever. So long as the evil being was still inside him, he would never be able to tell her.  
  
"Link, it was impossible for you to have known your destiny. You can't change what was, but you can change what will be! Just tell me how you feel!"  
  
Link wordlessly left the stables, walking quickly towards the gates of Lon Lon Ranch. The guards that had put them under house arrest barred the gates, but Link effortlessly climbed over them and headed toward Kakariko Village. He knew he would find little comfort there, but some was better than none.  
  
As he ran he couldn't fight the burning sensation he felt in his chest when he thought of the fiery red-headed girl he left in the stables, alone and shaking. He really was a bastard, but could he blame it entirely on Dark Link? He knew it wasn't the complete truth, but he did anyway.  
  
Malon slowly got to her feet and retrieved the brush she had been using. Turning back to her horse, she thought sadly about the last time he had disappeared.  
  
Only this time, he was escaping her more than anything else. 


	7. Heir to the Sword

Chapter 6  
  
Nearly three hours after Link left, Zelda arrived at Lon Lon Ranch. She dismounted and approached the farmhouse, about to knock, when a voice behind her halted her actions.  
  
"What can I do for you, Highness?" Malon said, shutting the stable door behind her.  
  
"Ahh, Malon if I am correct?" Malon curtseyed as best she could.  
  
"Yes, your Highness. What may I do for you?" Malon couldn't keep out the bitterness in her voice, Zelda hadn't needed to place them all under house arrest.  
  
Zelda noticed the bitter tone and gave it back with equal fervor.  
  
"I'm sure you are all fine here, and until I get Link, I will not withdraw the orders that have been placed upon this ranch."  
  
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, your Highness, but Link has left. I assumed he was going to the palace." Zelda stared at her in complete shock.  
  
"You let him leave? How could you allow such a thing when I've placed you all under house arrest?"  
  
"I would have gone after him, Highness, if it were not for the conditions of our estate," Malon shot back. It apparently had the desired affect. Zelda looked at her with rage before collecting herself. She was the Princess of Hyrule, of Destiny, she was the Sage of Time for Goddess's sake. It would not be fitting for her to bicker with one of her people, though she wanted to badly. She knew she would never be able to consider Malon her friend.  
  
"Very well, Malon. Tell your father that I have withdrawn the charges against you and your family, and that you are no longer under house arrest. If Link were to come back at any time, I would fully expect you to contact the Royal House. Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, your Highness." Zelda looked at Malon with fire in her eyes and moved closer.  
  
She was mere inches from Malon's face before she whispered softly, "From this day on, because of the severity of your betrayal to me and to your people, I will never be able to recognize you with kindness." Malon said nothing, understanding what this meant for her.  
  
Without another word, Princess Zelda got back onto her steed, the four guards behind her letting her pass before following her out of the ranch. The guards dared not say a word about what they had just witnessed.  
  
With a sigh, Malon went back into the stables. It would be a very long time before she encountered the princess again.  
  
*************************  
  
Link ran for the rest of that day and through the night, and for most of the next day and evening. The adrenaline as well as Dark Link gave him enough stamina to continue without need for rest. Link realized for the first time as he was climbing the stairs to the village that he had not eaten since he had been captured. He didn't seem to need it.  
  
He approached the house behind that of the once cursed house (which, in this time, was not inhabited) and knocked on the door. A tall woman with short red hair answered the door and smiled when she saw Link.  
  
"Link! You've come back! Come in, please," she said excitedly, practically yanking Link inside. She led him upstairs to a small loft and he plopped down on the bed, weariness finally catching up to him.  
  
"It's good to see you again Miranórë."  
  
"Please Link, after.." she hesitated, "after all we've been through, call me Mira." Link smiled at her, which was unusual for him. He had almost called her Anju when she opened the door, with that warm smile on her face and gentle eyes. They were practically the same anyway, except in character.  
  
Link remembered back to when he was the Hero of Time and had helped Miranórë catch her cuccos because, oddly enough, she was allergic to them. She obviously didn't remember that, though.  
  
"Can I get you some herbal juice, or milk, or-"  
  
"No thanks, Mira. I just need a little rest."  
  
"Oh, ok." Mira smiled at him and sat down next to him on the bed. Link smirked at her.  
  
"No, I mean real rest Mira." She pouted at him and he felt a different kind of stirring at the look. Unable to resist, he pulled her down on top of him and kissed her. He could feel Dark Link surging through him excitedly with the prospect of what was to come. ((Calm down in there, remember that I get to do the driving,)) he said mentally to his evil counterpart.  
  
Mira latched onto his lips with her own and pulled the covers up over them. Tonight was going to be a good night, they both thought.  
  
The next morning, Link woke up to the heavy weight of Mira's naked body sprawled across his own, and he couldn't help but think that he'd like to wake up like that every morning. His thoughts momentarily wandered to Malon, but he didn't feel guilty. Mira was a willing body, and that's all Link cared about for now. ((I'm such a bastard.)) Mira unconsciously squeezed her thighs around Link's waist, and he instantly got aroused. Turning them over, he plunged into her without warning and she awoke to his body moving over hers. Moaning softly, Mira arched her back as Link quickly found his release.  
  
It would never be about making love with Link, it *could* never be. That sort of passion was something Dark Link would not allow, and though Link didn't accept it, he knew it well. Rolling off of Mira, Link sighed and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Mira silently stood and put her clothes back on, going downstairs to make breakfast. Link had found this routine similar to that of when he was here last. Morning and night, morning and night, they would do the same thing, over and over.  
  
It had been nearly seven weeks ago when Link had come to Mira, seeking escape. He had been at Lon Lon Ranch, in bed all day and night, with Malon watching over him. She ran to his room almost every night when they started, those memories. She'd hold him and whisper to him, and hum her mother's lullaby. He himself didn't even know how much he appreciated that.  
  
After one especially vivid night of remembering, Link decided he would end his misery the best way he knew how. Silently he began to plan his attack, going over every little detail in his mind with precision. Oh how Dark Link loved this.  
  
Not wanting Malon or anyone else to find out what he was planning, he fled. He ran for two days to Kakariko, the closest place to Zelda he could think of without actually being too close. Subconsciously he ran away in hopes to stop himself of what he was planning, but his tattered brain didn't know what to make of it. So he went into a stupor, still on the ground while his thoughts raced through his head in a mass of entangled confusion. He felt like it nearly killed him.  
  
That's how Mira found him, jerking convulsively on the ground. She willingly took him in and so began their nightly ritual. For Link it was a means of escape and release for a time from all the confusing thoughts running around in his brain. For Mira, it was a warm body to keep her company at night. Neither spoke about it much or asked questions, each just accepted it and continued with it.  
  
Link had stayed with Mira for nearly a month when he decided he was going to go through with what he had planned. He left without a word to Mira and she didn't go looking for him. She knew he would come back. And he did.  
  
He had left all of his belongings at Kafei's house in Termina, and the night he went for Zelda, he realized that he didn't have a sword. Why did he need one anyway? He could just strangle her or something...but Link wanted to mark her. He wanted her to feel it with the tip of the blade that had caused this mess in the first place.  
  
So off he went, to the Temple of Time, pulling the sword from its stone dais and running like the wind to the castle. Link was the only one who could pull the sword anyway, so the sages had decided to leave the Door open for people to enter the sanctuary. It had an air of peace, and people liked praying in there. It posed no real threat to leave the Door open, they assumed at the time.  
  
Returning his thoughts to the present, Link decided that he wasn't going to stay here for long, in fact, he was going to leave that day. He did not want to delay anything any further. He needed to get to Zelda and tell her what was happening. Maybe...maybe not all of it, but enough to explain his actions.  
  
Link reached for his shirt and pants on put them on quickly. He fastened his boots and went downstairs. He heard a rustling in the indoor-out house and realized Mira was in there. Not wanting to leave without saying goodbye, but not wanting a confrontation, Link quickly decided and stepped out through door. ((Goodbye once more, Mira.))  
  
Sighing, Mira came into the front room and headed upstairs.  
  
"Link, there's something I need to tell....you.." She trailed off as she realized he was gone. A lone tear fell onto her cheek and she shivered. "I think I am with child," she said to no one, refusing to let any more than one tear fall.  
  
*********  
  
Link climbed up the castle wall as quickly as he could (which wasn't very quick), wishing desperately he had his hookshot. None of the guards seemed to have noticed him, which was a good thing. Maybe he wasn't losing his touch after all.  
  
He came to window and heaved himself up onto the ledge. He didn't know how, but by some chance he had managed to reach the window of Zelda's bed chambers. And she was in there.  
  
Zelda took off the outer layer of her gown and hung it on a hook near the door. Laying down on her bed, she sighed, feeling weary from the past few days. Reaching under her bed, she drew out a scabbard brightly colored in blue and gold markings, not unlike Link's own. Unaware of the spying Link, she drew out the Master Sword and gazed at it.  
  
Link's eyes gleamed as he watched the princess, his mouth almost watering and the memory of the sword. He wanted to feel it again so badly.  
  
Zelda sheathed the sword and sighed. The night Link attacked, he had dropped the sword when the guards came for him and she had kept it hidden in her chambers. She knew she should put it back, but the truth was, it made her feel connected to Link. It made her feel connected to the good Link she knew back in another lifetime, and the feeling was good. Another part of it was that if she tried to put the sword back in its place, it would hurt. The dais would not recognize her as a rightful wielder of the sword and it would burn.  
  
Deciding that now was as good a time as any, Link knocked on the window, shocking Zelda so much she almost fell off her bed. With a dazed look she hurried over to the window, opened it and pulled Link in so forcefully he fell to the ground at her feet. Getting up, he dusted himself off nonchalantly and stared at Zelda.  
  
"You have some nerve," Zelda said, trying to act confident but wavering just slightly.  
  
"It's alright Zelda, I won't hurt you." ((At least I'll try not to.)) "Before you say anything, I'm going to tell you my story and you're going to listen without interrupting. Understand?" Link walked toward Zelda, who only walked backward until she hit her bed, and plopped down onto it.  
  
Link told her about the water temple and his encounter with Dark Link. What he didn't tell her, however, was that he had inhabited Link's body. Link left her to believe that Dark Link was still within the Master Sword. Zelda put her hands to her mouth.  
  
"You mean, it's...it's still in there? Why did you go back and get it then?!" Link moved closer, an eerie look on his face.  
  
"It called to me," he said matter-of-factly, thought he was lying. "My original intention was to destroy the sword and leave, but, it told me what it wanted done and I obliged." Zelda made a mental note of that statement.  
  
She stared at him with a look on her features that told him she wasn't believing a word he said. No matter, as long as he made absolute *sure* she was aware of Dark Link's presence, whether it was inside him or the sword. A picture of himself impaled on the sword flashed through his mind briefly..  
  
....don't even think about it....  
  
Link ignored the voice in his head and smirked at Zelda.  
  
"Stop looking at me like that, Link. You're scaring me." Link just shook his head and sat down in a chair across from her bed.  
  
"So what are you going to do with me Zelda? What about the sword?" Link noticed Zelda was in her thinking mode, and waited.  
  
"I do not believe your story, Link. I cannot believe that the sword would have allowed such a thing. I have no choice but to serve you the consequences necessary for your actions." This was hard for Zelda to say, but she had no other choice as Princess of Hyrule. She realized now that Impa was correct, no matter what Zelda wanted to believe. It was her duty, and she understood this now.  
  
"I agree with what you're saying, but I will find a way to escape if I feel it necessary," he said. Zelda would not be so heedless this time about the amount of security she would need concerning Link.  
  
Before the princess could reply, a beam of light shot through her window and Rauru instantly appeared before her.  
  
"Princess, something terrible has happened!" 


	8. Eiraki of Erryl

Chapter 7  
  
"Rauru! What has happened?" Zelda leapt off the bed and ran toward him, under the window.  
  
"It's your father, Zelda." Rauru didn't seem to notice the young man sitting in the chair, either that or he didn't care. Zelda's face was panic stricken.  
  
"What has happened to my father!?" Zelda latched on to Rauru's garment and looked into his eyes.  
  
"He has been taken captive. At least, that is what I have concluded." Zelda looked at him with questioning eyes. "I found over half of his caravan, slain.." Zelda's eyes widened. "But, I have not found your father. I have come to the conclusion that he has been taken."  
  
Zelda let go of Rauru and turned away from him.  
  
"There is more my lady," Rauru glanced briefly at Link, acknowledging him finally. He did not say anything to him though. "There is another caravan at the boundaries of Hyrule, I am sure of it. But they do not carry the Imperial Flag, no, I believe they may be the ones who were responsible for your father's capture. They may be here within a matter of hours."  
  
"Where do they come from, do you know?" Link spoke to Rauru directly, though he could feel Dark Link stirring, inwardly growling at the sage. Rauru met Link's gaze and saw a flicker of red in his eyes for a brief moment.  
  
"They come from Ormistad." Link sucked in air.  
  
"What part of Ormistad?"  
  
"Erryl, I believe. That is where I saw the caravan departing." Link stood up abruptly and went to Zelda.  
  
"Zelda, you must wait in the throne room. If what Rauru says is true, and if my suspicions are correct, I may have a way of saving your father." Zelda looked at Link.  
  
"If you do, Link, then I will set you free," she said, "I give you my word." Link followed Zelda out of her bed chambers with Rauru in tow, and he realized that Dark Link didn't try to interfere. In fact, he hadn't had much trouble from him lately. Link wondered if there were any possible way..  
  
....don't get your hopes up, Hero....  
  
Link growled at the evil elf's mocking tone. He should have known it wouldn't be so easy.  
  
As they walked down the corridors of the castle, Zelda stared at every passer-by who saw Link with her, letting them know that he was not to be harmed, touched, or talked to. She also made it clear that she was not to be questioned. When they got into the throne room, Zelda sat upon her father's throne, as she had done for the past four years, and motioned for Rauru to take the seat to her left. Link stayed standing at her right.  
  
Zelda told two of her guards what was going on, and directed them to meet up with the caravan to inform their leader that the princess would like a word with them.  
  
"Tell me what you know about Ormistad," Zelda said to Link as the guards went trotting down to the doorway.  
  
"I went to Termina about five years ago, and three years after that I traveled to Ormistad. I ran into a warlord in Erryl named Eiraki, who took me captive because I had trespassed into his territory. I battled him for my freedom. If it is he who has captured your father, then I know what to do with him." Link purposely left out the part about Eiraki being a distant cousin of Ganondorf. He did not want to cause any commotion, or start a war that would be needless anyhow.  
  
Dark Link stirred at the idea, but Link refused to succumb to that particular itching need of Dark Link's. While Link's darker self gave him desires to do wicked, evil, sadistic things, for some reason war was out of the question. That certainly would be what Eiraki got if Zelda found out about his relation to her most despised enemy.  
  
Zelda said nothing and looked to the doors of the throne room with a determined look of confidence. Link had to hand it to her, she was indeed a good princess. It then appeared as if she remembered something, and leaned over to Link.  
  
"My father will not know of what transpired between the two of us, I ask only this of you." Link smiled at her and stood tall, awaiting the pain-in- the-ass warlord Eiraki.  
  
Not two hours had passed when a girl that looked much older than Zelda in tattered and torn robes came running up the walkway with the two guards at her heels. She halted in front of Zelda and fell to her knees, gasping for breath. One of the guards approached Zelda.  
  
"She is unarmed, Milady, sent in by Eiraki of Erryl to give you word." Zelda flicked her wrist and sent the guards to stand at their posts.  
  
"Your Royal Highness," the girl panted, "I have been sent ahead to give word that my lord will be arriving shortly within the hour, and that he would also like a word with you." Still on her knees, the girl bowed her head with her arms outstretched as was the custom in Ormistad.  
  
"Rise, maiden, and tell me your status among your lord's people." The girl looked up quizzically at the princess.  
  
"Your Highness, I..I am but a serving maid. I occasionally act as caretaker to the younger-" Zelda held up her hand and looked over to one of her own maids standing at the side of the steps leading to the throne, and bade her bring the girl some suitable clothing. The maid left immediately and Zelda spoke again to the young girl.  
  
"Tell me your name, servant."  
  
"Tirkka, your Highness."  
  
"Tirkka, you will remain here with me and my people."  
  
"But, your-"  
  
"I will not discuss the matter with you. Go find the maid I sent in the serving room. Go out the door, to the left and down the hall. It is the fourteenth door on the right." The girl was about to protest, but Zelda would not have it.  
  
"Go." The girl rose and quickly left the throne room. She was overwhelmed with delight.  
  
Link leaned over to Zelda and whispered, "I will need a sword, Zelda." Zelda started and looked at him.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"If I am to duel with Eiraki, I will need a weapon." Link said with a small grin on his face.  
  
"..Link, I had no intention for you to put your life-"  
  
"Zelda, trust me. Just this once. If you want your father free, you will bring me the sword." Zelda leaned over to Rauru, not willing to trust anyone but him with such a matter.  
  
"Rauru, bring me the Master Sword. It's-"  
  
"I know, Zelda." Rauru smiled at her and left immediately. Not more than two minutes after that, a man in dark purple and black cloth and leather came strolling into the throne room. His hair was a dark brown and his facial features were very sharp. There were only two men who followed him, and as he approached Zelda stood. There was something about his looks that stirred something within Zelda, but she could not put her finger on it.  
  
"Your Highness, a very pleasant face you have. I am Eiraki of Erryl, at your service," he said with a grin and a quick bow.  
  
"Where is my father?" Zelda asked sternly. Eiraki grinned again and folded his hands together.  
  
"Well, my darling princess, he is right outside as a matter of fact." Eiraki didn't even seem to notice the blonde Hylian standing next to Zelda.  
  
"You will release him at once."  
  
"On the contrary, Highness. You will pay me first, and then I will release him." At that instant, Rauru returned with the sword concealed in his robes. Zelda was thankful he was so smart as to do that. She did not want to alarm or upset the warlord before she had discussed every matter with him. Eiraki didn't seem to give Rauru a second glance.  
  
"Exactly how much are you demanding?"  
  
"Princess, I will gladly give you your king for no less than five hundred- million rupees." Zelda staggered but composed herself again almost immediately.  
  
"That is utterly ridiculous."  
  
"That is my demand. Take it or leave it, Highness. I do not like trespassers, and I like king trespassers even less."  
  
"I have an alternate proposition," Link said, stepping down in front of Zelda.  
  
"Who are you, boy?" Link smirked. Had he forgotten already?  
  
"Have you forgotten so easily? Well, I would not have expected it from a man as proud as you, Eiraki." A look of recognition crossed Eiraki's features and his face contorted into that of pure rage.  
  
"It's you! You little demon!" He reached for his sword, and as he did so the two men behind him reached for theirs as well.  
  
"Do not draw your weapons! I challenge you, Eiraki, to a duel for the freedom of the King of Hyrule. Do you accept?" The rage on Eiraki's face slowly dissipated as he realized he would have the vengeance on the young boy who humiliated him.  
  
"Yes, I accept!" Then, turning to Zelda, "but what do I receive if I win, Highness?"  
  
"You make take me prisoner instead," Link said. Eiraki turned to Link, a wide grin spreading across his face.  
  
"You have yourself a deal, young fool." Eiraki then drew his sword, and Link went to Rauru, his eyes never leaving Eiraki, and held out his hand expectantly. Rauru withdrew the Master Sword, scabbard and all, and placed it in Link's hand. Link drew it and immediately felt an incredible power running through his veins, an opposite power to that of the evil being inside him. This was a familiar power, and one that made him feel invincible.  
  
Turning to Zelda, Link whispered softly, "I will not fail. You will have your father back in no time." Zelda smiled sadly and took her seat. She immediately forgave him for what he did to her, she felt the real Link again and it overwhelmed her with emotion. ((He's come back to me,)) she thought silently. Oh how wrong she was.  
  
Link slowly stepped down the stairs to the ground and faced Eiraki, sword gleaming.  
  
"Tell me, Link," Eiraki said as he moved to strike. Knocking him to the floor, he tried to bring his sword down upon Link's face but Link brought up the Master Sword and blocked the attack.  
  
"Has my little friend been keeping you company these long years?" Growling, Link pushed Eiraki off of him and sprang to his feet.  
  
"I knew it was you!" Link charged him and simultaneously felt the darkness within him stir, rising to the surface. Eiraki met each blow with a counter, and once again sent Link sprawling back to the ground. Link was at first planning to enjoy himself, but he found himself growing angry at the lord's admission.  
  
"Yes, I am a bit of a sorcerer. I suppose it runs in the family," Eiraki said as he circled Link. He stood stock still, glaring at Eiraki with burning red eyes.  
  
With an unnatural raspy and low voice that shocked even Zelda sitting on her throne, Link asked, "How could you have possibly known about Navi?" Eiraki continued to circle Link, sword half-way raised in his right hand.  
  
"Hmmm? Oh, it was just a simple spell. One meant to annoy and drive mad, if anything." So he hadn't known about Navi, he just randomly cast a spell that made Link perceive the magic in a form he would recognize. This made him even angrier. How he had known it was Eiraki was unfathomable to Link, but the knowledge made him tremble with a desire for more power.  
  
Focusing on the task at hand, Link called up his darkest fear to full power, and for the first time, he willingly let the darkness engulf him completely. Now, he was unstoppable. Dark Link cried out in victory as he took complete control. The cry rang through Link's head and escaped his lips. It was the most sinister laugh Zelda had ever heard. She glanced briefly at the Master Sword in Link's hand, then shook her head. ((No, it's not possible...))  
  
The grin on Eiraki's face disappeared swiftly and he stood still as he gazed upon the dark creature before him. Link still appeared the same, but everyone in the room trembled at the absolute power that was emanating from him, even Eiraki. Link walked forward with raging fury and in three strikes had Eiraki's sword flying through the air, his hand no longer attached to his body, and one long scar down his thin cheek. Eiraki cried out in bitter pain and grasped at his stumpy wrist, looking at Link with pure fear on his face.  
  
"I...don't understand....a wisp of a boy like you...twice..." The look on Link's face was far from amused. Pure evil stared into the eyes of the frazzled warlord, and he gasped when he looked back into those burning, red eyes.  
  
"I win," Link said flatly. He turned around and both Zelda and Eiraki sighed with relief as they realized he wasn't going to kill him, but Link swung around to his left and brought the Master Sword in shimmering arc to Eiraki's neck.  
  
Zelda screamed and Rauru hid her face in his chest as she heard the thumping of a decapitated head rolling across her royal floor, followed by the 'plop' of Eiraki's falling, dead body. Guards from every corner of the room went rushing to the body, lifting it and removing it from the chamber. Others went to go get cleaning servants. The two men that had accompanied Eiraki stared at Link in shocked silence, not moving an inch. Link snarled at them and walked toward Zelda.  
  
Dark Link receded slightly and Link felt himself regaining control a little once more. Link still held the bloody Master Sword in his hand with a death- like grip. Zelda removed her head from Rauru's robed chest and looked at Link with a little apprehension. He had killed that man even when he had clearly won. Zelda was afraid, but she composed herself and stood up straight, not wanting to be intimidated by the man who had just saved her father's life.  
  
"The deed is done Zelda, I have won." Zelda swallowed almost painfully.  
  
"Yes, Link." She stepped forward and stopped at the last so she was only a head higher than him, and looked down into his eyes. They were returning to normal, but Zelda noticed the red that shone just behind the white. "What happened just now?" she whispered softly, so that only he may hear. Link only shook his head, keeping his gaze locked on hers. Zelda looked at the Master Sword held tightly in Link's hand and gulped. She wouldn't believe. She refused to. ((No. Not possible.))  
  
Link then started to fall backwards and Zelda shrieked before catching him in her arms. Propping him on herself unsteadily, she raised his head with one hand. He had fallen unconscious. Rauru rushed to her side and helped her lay him down on the stairs, sword still gripped in his hand. As Zelda leaned over him, she failed to notice the man standing behind her.  
  
"At long last daughter, I have returned." Zelda snapped her head around and looked at the large man. She leapt to her feet and ran toward him.  
  
"Papa!" She yelled as she embraced him in a fierce hug. He returned the embrace. Pulling back, the King of Hyrule looked at his daughter's face and a tear fell from his eye.  
  
"I have missed you so, daughter."  
  
"And I you, father." The king looked to the fallen boy on the stairs.  
  
"Is that my rescuer?" Zelda looked at Link and nodded her head. She then noticed that the two men who had accompanied Eiraki were nowhere to be found. She realized that they must've gone to free the king and told him what happened.  
  
Without their leader, the people of Erryl did not know what to do but head back home. They were, in a sense, relieved that they no longer had to follow under another's ruling. They made their way back to Ormistad without disruption to any of the habitants of Hyrule.  
  
The king looked at the young boy and told Zelda to get the medical assistants to help him and put him in bed. Zelda did as her father asked and afterward, they spent the entire evening listening to each other's tales.  
  
***************************  
  
~ "Are you going to kill me? When will it stop?! Don't do it Link, don't do it! It's not happening again... Please........No, I cannot go further. You weak, pathetic excuse for a man, get up and FIGHT ME! Just do it, just put me out of my misery."~  
  
Link  
  
~ "Nooooo! Mother! Father! You will pay for this. Who dare wakes me from my slumber? You silly thing, you honestly think you can defeat me?"~  
  
Link  
  
~ "Just this once, please, make it stop. No, you must go back.......Heheheh, what will you give me? Anything, I'd give my soul, just, don't make me go on."~  
  
....Link!......  
  
Link opened his eyes in the darkness of the bed chamber. The memories came flooding back to him in an overwhelming intensity that made his whole body tighten. He was angry at himself for letting Dark Link take over him completely. He was angry that he hadn't found a way to rid himself of this evil.  
  
"Why'd you make me kill him?" Link asked as he fell back against the bed.  
  
....I didn't make you do anything....  
  
"Bullshit. You were the one in control."  
  
....it felt so good....  
  
Link felt the dark one within him waiting for a reply, but Link was too drained to continue. Link stared at the ceiling as he thought of tomorrow.  
  
Tomorrow would be a very, very long day. 


	9. Sacrifice

Chapter 8  
  
~ "They can't hear you...." you're too late, you can't stop it.... "they can't hear you Zelda...." too late... "old debt....can't hear you Zelda...." too late, too late.... "time you learn....they can't hear you Zelda...." too late.... "can't hear you...." too late.... "time you learn...can't hear you...." "No!"~  
  
"No!" Zelda sprung upright from her bed and grasped the sheets. Looking around, she realized it had only been a nightmare. The early morning light streaming through her window told her that it was almost time to get up anyway. "What a horrible dream. I wish they would go away."  
  
Ever since the incident, Zelda had been having nightmares about it. It wasn't surprising to her, but she blamed herself. She wasn't sure why, but it made the incident more sensible when she told herself it was her fault. She didn't believe it, however.  
  
Rising from her bed, Zelda put a hand on her forehead and thought about the day's events. Today was going to be a very important day, the king's return would be announced and celebrated immediately.  
  
Zelda knocked on Link's door twice before entering.  
  
"Link, get up. We have to prepare ourselves for today's events." Zelda went to the curtains and opened them, then turned to pull Link out of bed, only he wasn't there. ((Dammit,)) she thought to herself.  
  
Walking down the corridors of the castle, thinking Link had fled, Zelda was quite shocked when he jumped down in front of her from what looked like the ceiling. She jumped back and put her hand over her chest in a futile attempt to slow her rapidly beating heart. Link grinned. Sometimes he liked being able to hide among the shadows.  
  
"How did you do that? Where- I thought you were..."  
  
"Calm down Zelda. I woke up early and went to go chat with your daddy," he said in a somewhat amused tone. Zelda gazed at him fiercely.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"We had a nice little chat. I think he likes me." Zelda continued to stare at him with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Aw, come on, he's a nice guy."  
  
"Ok, just, don't do that again without my presence." Link's eyes narrowed just slightly and he pursed his lips, crossing his arms across his chest.  
  
"You still don't trust me. Oh well, I don't blame you." That was the precise moment Zelda noticed Link had the Master Sword, in its scabbard, strapped to his back. "Well, your father has requested your presence in the throne room." Link decided then that here, in the palace, was not the place to be. Zelda's next words shocked him.  
  
"If you leave here with the Master Sword, I will go after you." Link looked at her but said nothing. "It won't be long before my father's return celebration commences, so I suggest you stick around until after that." Zelda then swept past him and headed toward the throne room.  
  
He debated whether he should do as Zelda said, or forget about her and leave. Where would he go? He didn't think he would be able to stay in Hyrule, he had made too much of a mess. He had practically ruined every relationship he had ever had with anyone. That left only one place he could turn to, and he knew no matter what happened, that place would always welcome him.  
  
Link decided he would stay until after the celebration, though he was positive Zelda didn't expect him to attend. No, public appearances would not go over well considering the severity of his...condition. ((Screw it.))  
  
Zelda entered the throne room and walked down the isle to her father, thinking how right it looked with him sitting in the throne. She was so happy he had finally returned to her.  
  
"You wanted to see me, Father?" The king looked at his daughter with warmth in his eyes.  
  
"Yes Zelda. I have a few matters to discuss with you regarding leadership. I understand you have done an exemplary job, from what I hear and what I see. I could not be more proud of you." Zelda smiled and bowed her head slightly as a blush crept across her face.  
  
"Thank you so much Father."  
  
"Now that I have returned, you will be able to step down as ruler and begin traditional studies, eh, being the teenager you are. You have learned a lot as leader and dictator, but I want you to continue from now on as a student like the rest your age." Zelda looked at him slightly shocked, and if she admitted it, slightly disappointed. What did she expect anyway? Though she thought about her father's return quite often, she failed to think about what would happen when he *did* return.  
  
Oh well, it seemed appropriate in any case. She really didn't think she needed schooling, however, given the circumstances of this life and, not to mention, the life before. She would not argue with her father. It was not the way for a princess to behave.  
  
She simply curtseyed and mumbled a barely audible "thanks" and proceeded to leave.  
  
"Hold on just a minute, young lady," her father said. "There is one thing more." "Yes?"  
  
"This maid," he said pointing to the girl standing beside him that Zelda hadn't noticed earlier, "was among the caravan from Erryl, correct?"  
  
"Yes, Father, she was. I had her cleaned and clothed properly."  
  
"I see. Well, since she has had the experience of caring for the young in her caravan, I have appointed her as your new caretaker. I know Impa has other duties to attend to, so I see this as a reasonable compromise." Zelda's jaw dropped and she opened her mouth about to protest, but the king held up his large hand. Tirkka, the maid, was equally astonished.  
  
"Please do not argue with me Daughter, this is what I wish."  
  
"Very well, Father. Come along, Tirkka." With that, Zelda and Tirkka left the throne room and headed to Zelda's chambers so she could give the maid proper instructions. ((Odd,)) she thought to herself. ((Me giving my new caretaker instructions on how to take care of me. Ridiculous.)) Zelda had it in her mind right there and then that she would not befriend the maid, but give her due respect. No one could replace Impa. Not ever.  
  
Later that evening, the streets of New Castle Town were filled to the brim with villagers and visitors from all over the country to celebrate the king's return. In the center of the market, there was a large podium on which Princess Zelda and her father sat. A hooded figure wove through the masses of people the far end of the city, looking for the young man that had recently passed this way. Spotting the green hood, the stranger followed the man into the Temple of Time.  
  
Link kneeled before the Spiritual Stones, the only things between himself and the Door of Time. ((Maybe if I went back,)) he thought. ((No. There's no way. It wouldn't work. He'd still be in my body.)) Link closed his eyes and let his mind go blank, seeking any sort of peace for just a few moments. He realized that here, in the temple, everything else in the world outside didn't matter. While he was in here he could feel the goodness surround him, and hope, it seemed, wasn't too far from his reach.  
  
Link stood and opened his eyes, a look of new confidence on his face as he vowed to himself that he would not run from here until he found a solution. And by the Goddesses, he would find one. He was about to turn when the presence of another inside the temple halted him.  
  
"I suggest you stay where you are if you do not want to lose your head," he warned without turning. By now the figure wasn't too far away from him. It breathed. In an instant, Link's sword was drawn and pointing dangerously close to the face of the hooded creature. His eyes held a look of surprise when he realized who it was.  
  
"What are you doing here? I might have hurt you."  
  
"I am sorry I startled you, Link. There is something we must discuss," Karyn said as she pulled the hood away from her face and Link lowered his sword to put it back in its scabbard. "I can help you."  
  
Link looked at her with warning eyes. She couldn't know...  
  
"Help me with what?" he asked as he turned to look at the stones.  
  
"There's something I have to tell you."  
  
"Why do you have to tell me anything?"  
  
"I know about..everything. When you left, I found Malon in the stables and she told me. I know she promised you she wouldn't, but she was so hurt. It just-" Link's head whipped around so fast it made Karyn stumble backwards. Grabbing her arms so she wouldn't fall, he brought his face close to hers stared deeply into her eyes. She was very afraid at the moment, and wasn't sure if this was a good idea after all.  
  
"Please, I think I can help you," she said with obvious fear in her voice. After what seemed like forever, Link breathed out one word.  
  
"How?"  
  
Karyn relaxed immediately and he let go of her arms. "I have a little secret of my own, Link. Not even my family knows about this."  
  
"I understand." Moving to the steps before the alter, Karyn sat and motioned for Link to do the same.  
  
"I was there," she said almost in a whisper. "I remember. I remember everything." Her eyes got a far off look in them. Link was confused.  
  
"You remember what, exactly?"  
  
"I was there, Hero of Time. I remember what you did for Hyrule, I remember what became of it, and I remember Ganondorf vividly," she shuddered at the thought of the evil Gerudo king. Link said nothing.  
  
"I suppose you're wondering how that is possible, when no one besides you, the princess, and the sages were meant to remember. Well I am no sage, but I was also meant to remember." Link didn't have to ask. She would tell him everything.  
  
"This is both your destiny as it is mine. I understand that now. It is my destiny to save you, Link." "Please get on with it." He didn't mean to be so harsh, but the prospect of finally having this demon out of his body was all too exciting. He was no where near prepared for what Karyn said next.  
  
"I am your aunt Link, and because of that, we have kindred spirits. I believe that somehow, because of this, you can be saved." Link stared at her for an endless moment.  
  
"No. There is no good way for this to end. I'm positive of that." It was Karyn's turn to be speechless. She didn't know how he would react to her words, but this was *definitely* not what she expected.  
  
Link got up and headed for the door, leaving Karyn sitting on the altar steps. As he pulled it open, he turned to her. "Oh, you shouldn't have said you were my aunt, I know you're not. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it will go wrong in some way and I can't bear the thought of destroying yet another person's life. Especially a life I care about."  
  
He was gone, maybe never to be seen again. Karyn sat there in silence, a bit disappointed. She'd lied about remembering. She didn't remember. She only wanted to make Link believe in her, to convince him that it was her who could save him. Telling him she was his aunt was a big mistake. She had her suspicions that he knew she was lying already, but that was the clincher for him. She didn't want him to die inside; she wanted him to be the happy boy she remembered so long ago. She was willing to do whatever it took to get him free again.  
  
Karyn's thoughts did not go unheard, and five great bursts of light appeared before her in the temple, making her shriek in surprise.  
  
***************  
  
Zelda sat next to her father and watched as the people of Hyrule danced and laughed amongst themselves. She had come to the conclusion that Link, whatever was *really* wrong with him, would be a threat to her family and possibly to Hyrule. He was unstable, and she realized that having the job of Hero of Time might do that to a person. She didn't hate him, but she did pity him. It was up to her now to get the Master Sword back safely, and to keep Hyrule protected regardless of what her father instructed her to do.  
  
She wanted this whole thing resolved as neatly and quietly as possible. It was selfish, yes, but she would do it to protect the people she cared about, and to protect herself.  
  
The sudden cheering of the crowd as her father stood brought Zelda out of her thoughts. It was almost time for the king to make his speech, and then there would be more dancing and feasting. Zelda took a deep breath and hoped that Link, wherever he was, wasn't going to make a mess out of this night.  
  
**************  
  
Link hadn't gone far. Once he left the temple, memories started to flood back into his brain and he could feel Dark Link stirring within. Maybe he should reconsider what Karyn was offering....but what was she offering, exactly? He didn't understand how she could've helped. How could she possibly understand what exactly was going on inside his body? Maybe she knew more than he gave her credit for, maybe she had figured something out that he hadn't.  
  
...don't count on it....  
  
The sudden shriek that came from inside the temple had Link running for the door.  
  
"What's happening in here?!" he yelled as he raced inside, coming to a screeching halt when he noticed the five sages that now stood before him. "What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
"We were under strict orders to remain in our provinces so we may protect them," Saria said as she stepped forward to examine Link.  
  
"But now that the king has returned and you are here, we figured we could chance leaving," Nabooru finished.  
  
"Who were you protecting your people from? Me?"  
  
"Yes, Link. We were under Zelda's orders. We know what happened that night," Saria said sadly. Nabooru placed a hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort.  
  
"There's a surprise," Link said bitterly. "I suppose you know everything, then. About me."  
  
"We do now, for certain. We know what goes on in the temple at all times. We can feel it also, and we felt a strange presence within you." Darunia stepped forward slightly and looked down in what seemed like apprehension. "It...it is good to see you again though, brother Link."  
  
Link nodded and Darunia came forward to embrace him, but instead stopped short and offered his hand. Link shook it with understanding and a bit of guilt.  
  
"Link," Impa stepped out from behind Darunia. "Karyn has offered herself as a sacrifice to us, in order to help you. It would be well that you accept it." Karyn stood behind all of the sages, but Link could see her face. He stared at her for a long while, gritting his teeth. Finally, he turned to Impa.  
  
"Fine, I accept." 


	10. Peeling Potatoes

Chapter 9  
  
Link rode up to the old tavern just as the sun was setting and dismounted Epona. Tying her to the post, he headed into the tavern and sat down to order a drink. Isien, a small but popular town in the far outreaches of Hyrule, was a place Link had frequented often during the time he was traveling. It was far enough away to not run into anyone from Hyrule, but not so far that the two places were separate. ((It would be wise for me not to go back to Hyrule for a long, long time,)) Link thought.  
  
For once in what seemed a lifetime, there was no witty reply to that thought.  
  
"Well well, there's a green tunic I recognize." Link heard the voice from behind him and instinctively reached for the sword that wasn't strapped to his back. Cursing silently to himself, he stealthily drew a dagger from his waistband and was out of his chair within seconds, facing his foe.  
  
"Well hell, *you* again?"  
  
"There's no getting around it you ugly octorok."  
  
"Kafei!! It's really you isn't it? What in Din's name you doing in this town?"  
  
"Link, buddy, it's real good to see you." Kafei moved in to embrace the taller man. He knew Link better than anyone in the world, including Link himself. He knew by the way he was acting that everything was going to be ok. "I live here now. Anju and I got tired of the Inn, we wanted a smaller place in between Termina and Hyrule. This was as good as any."  
  
"Well I wouldn't have known it if I'd never stopped, so I'm glad I did."  
  
"I'm glad you did too buddy. Come on, I'll put you up for a while." Link was surprised at Kafei, the guy knew him from the inside out. Before Link could say anything, Kafei smiled at him and said, "it doesn't matter how long. You're always welcome with us." Link smiled back and they wordlessly left the tavern.  
  
The next day, Link took it upon himself to search for the items he had left behind. He was sure Kafei had brought them along, he knew how important Link's weapons were, along with his toys. Looking in closets and cupboards around the small cabin, he had managed to gather all of his belongings. ((Why I left you guys here in the first place I'll never know,)) he thought as he ran his fingers along the perfect blade of his gilded sword. ((So good to feel you again.))  
  
He strapped the sword on, along with his Hero's bow and hookshot. He didn't know if he'd need them again, but once a warrior, always a warrior. Stepping outside to find Kafei, he was surprised when a basket of potatoes was shoved into his hands.  
  
"Here," Anju said smiling, "take these in and peel them." Link just stared as she walked back out to the small garden. "Nice to see you too Anju."  
  
"I'll help you with those while you tell me a story." Kafei took the basket and set it on the wooden table.  
  
"I don't know if I'm ready to tell stories yet, Kafei." Link sat down and started to peel. "I just don't-"  
  
"You're going to tell me sooner or later aren't you? Why not just get it over with? I would like to know what happened."  
  
"I know, I know." Kafei stared at Link for a moment and sighed.  
  
"You've told me everything about you, Link. I know everything there is to possibly know up until you went back." Link sighed. "I've always believed you, you know that."  
  
"Oh I've never doubted that Kafei. You were the only person I could trust for so long. Even now, I feel you and Anju are the only people in my life that-"  
  
"Please Link," Kafei interrupted, "I know that. You don't have to be ashamed. Did you tell her the truth?"  
  
"Of course I didn't tell her the truth. She still doesn't believe me."  
  
"I'm not talking about Zelda." Again, Link was baffled at how much Kafei knew about him. Kafei had always known that Link cared for the farm girl. "Did you tell her about.."  
  
"Dammit!" Link slammed his fists onto the table and got up, starting to pace about the kitchen. "I didn't have it me, Kafei. I didn't fucking have it in me." Kafei winced at his words. There was going to be a major guilt trip coming up in about two seconds, he could feel it.  
  
"I went in that temple Kafei, I went in there and I crumbled. Dark Link didn't manipulate me." Kafei knew this already. He didn't want to hear it again, but he supposed he deserved it for being so nosy. "I told Malon about him being inside me, but I lied to her too. I didn't tell her I took the coward's way out."  
  
"Link, stop, it's ok. I don't need-"  
  
"No, no. Let me. I want...I need to let it out. You know the truth, I was in hysterics when I came to you those many years ago." He paused, stopped pacing. He sat down again and put his head in his hands and sighed. "I let him take me. It was my fault. I bargained with the bastard. I told him I couldn't do it alone, I told him I'd do anything just to not have to face Ganondorf by myself.  
  
"He fucking *told* me he'd help, and that he'd leave once we were through. I was blinded by my hatred for Ganondorf, and Dark Link let me know it. He screwed me over and took over my soul, my mind, and I couldn't do anything to stop him. I thought I would be safe enough from him if I allowed him to become part of my sword, but I was wrong."  
  
"How did you do it?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"How did you get rid of him?" Maybe he shouldn't have asked that particular question as he saw the look on Link's face. Oh well, he'd already made a mess of things, might as well get the whole story.  
  
"It's been two weeks. I couldn't remember how it felt to be without him. Two weeks, and the loss of everything I once had. Except you..." he trailed off and pointed a finger at Kafei. He shrugged and hung his head. "I don't know how I'll ever repay you."  
  
"Don't. Not now. Not yet."  
  
"Ok, I'll tell you."  
  
***************  
  
~ Impa stood before him, hands crossed over her chest.  
  
"I accept." All of the sages looked at each other in nervousness, unsure of what would happen.  
  
"Very well." They all proceeded through the Door of Time to stand in front of the stone dais on which the Master Sword once rested. "Darunia, hold him down."  
  
"Wait a minute..." Link said with a growl and drew the Master Sword, pointing it at Darunia. Darunia stared at him with an emotionless face. Turning the sword around he presented it to him and said, "here, you'll want to hang on to this." Relief washed over Karyn and the other sages as Darunia took the sword and handed it to Impa.  
  
Link looked around a moment and realized Rauru wasn't there.  
  
"Where is Rauru?" Darunia looked to Impa for a moment then back to Link.  
  
"He went back to the Light World." What Darunia didn't say wasn't lost on Link. "Good luck, my brother," the Goron said, dismissing the other matter entirely.  
  
Gripping Link's hands behind his back and forcing him to the floor, Darunia put most of but not all of his weight on Link's legs so he was completely immobile. Impa knelt so he could see her face.  
  
"I will explain how we plan to do this, Link. While we all meditate, Saria will play Requiem of Spirit and you will call up your darker self. Darunia and I will concentrate on Dark Link, while Nabooru and Ruto concentrate on Karyn."  
  
"Wait, what? Karyn?"  
  
"Link," Impa paused. She was unsure how to go about this. "Dark Link is too powerful...your soul-"  
  
"Karyn is going to give me her soul?" Link was all of a sudden very afraid. Dark Link was screaming inside his head; he knew what they were planning. Everything happened so quickly Link barely had time to process it. Dark Link was growing fierce and rising to the surface.  
  
"You can't!"  
  
"You knew there would be consequences, Link. I'm so sorry," Impa stated.  
  
"Do not be sorry," Karyn said as she stood beside Impa. "I am ready."  
  
"Good," said Darunia, "because it's happening, now!" Saria stood on the dais, Ruto and Nabooru on either side of her. Karyn was on the first step leading to the dais, and Impa was right behind her. Link was on the floor under Darunia facing Karyn, who knelt before Link and took his face in her hands.  
  
"NOW!" Darunia screamed as Link started to struggle. His eyes turned a deep red and he opened his mouth to roar.  
  
Saria placed her ocarina to her lips and started playing Requiem of Spirit over and over again, while the others chanted and prayed, prayed that this would not go wrong. Eerie tones filled the chamber as chanting grew louder and Link struggled harder.  
  
A blue light surrounded the room and the air got thick, an intense wave of desperation filling the bodies of all within. Karyn had a strong hold on Link's face and it seemed as if her hands would melt into his skin. Link roared.  
  
"Curse you ALL!"  
  
*******************  
  
"People that stand before me, before my country. I am so grateful to be back among you again. I am grateful that you all receive me again as your king."  
  
The crowd cheered.  
  
************  
  
A flash of blue and a loud scream.  
  
************  
  
"You have all served my daughter well in my absence, and I believe she has done her duty with great pride and self assurance, am I right?"  
  
Another cheer from the crowd.  
  
***********  
  
Minds racing fast, so fast. More lights, more notes, more screaming.  
  
***********  
  
"My people, we shall rejoice in my return and we shall rejoice in the leadership my daughter has proven herself worthy of..."  
  
More cheering.  
  
************  
  
Things are intense now, Dark Link has fully emerged and he is gripping her, reaching for her. She is taking him in! She is taking him in!! Another scream. A scream of rage, a scream of defeat.  
  
**********  
  
"Today is a great day for celebration. Let us rejoice!!" The king held his hands up before his people and they yelled and cheered for him. Zelda heard a scream amongst the loud voices.  
  
**********  
  
More screaming, was it her or him? She could not tell anymore, and neither could he. Impa and Darunia had him, they were guiding him. They were guiding him to her! He was inside her now!  
  
Where was she? She was not herself, but him now. She was inside him and what remained of his own soul was mingling with hers. She was his now, he was hers.  
  
Impa saw a dark cloud in her mind, trying to cover her, but she would not let it. She would guide it to the innocent woman in front of her. She had to. The screaming stopped, and she opened her eyes. The others were still concentrating, still entranced. They had transferred Dark Link to Karyn, and Karyn was now Link, but the task was not finished.  
  
Karyn let go of Link's face and turned to look at Impa. ((Pure evil,)) Impa thought. Reaching for the Master Sword, making sure the others were concentrating. Link was unmoving, but Darunia was still holding him down.  
  
Raising the Master Sword above Karyn, Impa thought she saw a flash of fear in those evil eyes, a flash of innocence, but it passed. She brought the sword down on Karyn's face.  
  
It was almost beautiful how she was kneeling with her arms outstretched, blood dripping down her face, sword sticking out from between her eyes which were staring up, up into oblivion and beyond as the screaming started again; screams of a raspy male voice intertwined with a female's. The sages concentrated, and the sword glowed, burning Impa's hand.  
  
She screeched and let go of it, watching in tremendous awe as she somehow felt Dark Link being transferred back into the Sword, hearing the chants and whispers of her fellow sages in her head. The air was swarming around them, Karyn's mouth was open but the screaming had stopped, and Link's eyes snapped open.  
  
With a strength he didn't know he had, Link raised himself up off the floor and flung Darunia off his back. He flipped over Karyn's body, grabbing the Master Sword and yanking on it. The revolting sound of a sword being removed from gushing flesh could be heard throughout the room. With lightening speed, Link ran past Impa and the others and with a yell, slammed the sword back into its rightful resting place as Karyn's lifeless body hit the ground.  
  
Link held onto the sword with both hands, grunting as it burned through his flesh and glowed and rattled. It was absorbing Dark Link, and now that the sword was home, it would have the power to conceal him completely.  
  
Darunia stood and all the sages turned just as a great light washed over them, the Triforce symbol glowing and Link vanishing before their eyes.  
  
"No," Impa said quietly. She thought the sword absorbed him as well. They had failed. Then she looked around....a smile replacing the look of defeat on her face. It had been them that vanished, not Link. Standing before her were her friends and Rauru, and she realized she was home.  
  
***********  
  
Link let go of the sword and stumbled backwards, falling down the stairs of the stone dais. As his head hit the ground, he looked up towards the great ceiling of the chamber. His wounds had healed, his hand was no longer scorched. ((It must've been the light,)) he thought. ((It healed me and separated me completely from Dark Link.)) He looked around and noticed that he was also completely alone, Karyn's body had vanished.  
  
He could feel her presence inside him, but it was soft and warm, not hard and cold. It wasn't trying to take him over, it felt more like it was melting into him. He was in control now, and his soul was whole again. He was whole again.  
  
"...I'm free..." ~ 


	11. A Lost Cause

Chapter 10  
  
Kafei stared at him with his mouth hanging open. The Water Temple business had been pretty astounding, but that was just..overwhelming. He had so many questions but he didn't want to interrupt.  
  
"Well? Then what?" Link smirked at him.  
  
"Then..."  
  
~ Link lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling. What would happen to him now? Would he start acting like a woman? He shuddered at that thought. No, he realized he knew the answer without really knowing how he knew. He was still him.  
  
Zelda was sure she heard screaming coming from the Temple of Time. Moving quickly and carefully through the crowd, trying to avoid grasping hands, she made her way over to the temple doors. Link had no intention of getting up, so he was a little irritated when he heard the doors to the temple opening. ((Now I *have* to get up.))  
  
Zelda made her way through the Door of Time into the chamber beyond. When at first she didn't see anything, or anyone, she decided she was just hearing things and was going to leave. The sight of the Master Sword resting peacefully in its place stopped her dead in her tracks. The sudden voice of the person she thought she'd probably never see again had her startled even more.  
  
"Did I disturb your festivities, Zelda?"  
  
"Dammit, Link, where are you?!"  
  
"Right here," Link whispered in her ear from behind, causing her to jump and spin around.  
  
"You have to quit doing that. It scares me."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said in a mock apologetic tone. That was it for Zelda. She didn't know why he had put the sword back, but for whatever reason, it was going to stay there now no matter what. She was thankful she didn't have to "retrieve" it from him herself and put it back.  
  
"Get out Link." Link had started walking to another end of the room, and upon her words turned around and approached her.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"I'm banishing you Link. I feel you are a threat to me, my country, and most of all the Master Sword. I don't know what you were going to do with it, but it would have been disastrous I'm sure. I can't take that chance, not knowing how it might affect this land, or this time."  
  
"Zelda-"  
  
"No, Link. I don't want your phony explanations or your lies. I want you to leave, and I don't want you to come back. Something has happened to you, and you are not the Link I once knew. Leave." Zelda stood there pointing to the exit and Link was so furious with her, he decided it would serve her right to just leave the sword with the evil it held and go.  
  
That's exactly what he did. But he didn't leave without getting in the last word.  
  
"You'll regret this Zelda, and I hope you're sorry I'm not there the day you realize what a big mistake you made." With that he was gone, and Zelda held her head high, trying to convince herself she *had* made the right choice. She didn't know it quite yet, but this moment would change her forever. ~  
  
Link thought about that day almost two months ago. He was childish to have left without doing something to keep the sword away from anyone who dared go after it, but Zelda had angered him and hurt him. So he fled to Lon Lon Ranch once *again* and stole Epona.  
  
He wasn't ready for an encounter with Malon, he didn't think he'd ever be ready now that he had his own mind back. He was afraid she would convince him to stay, and he couldn't. He didn't belong anywhere near Zelda, the Master Sword, or Malon for that matter. He had hurt her too much.  
  
She wouldn't know that it was his fault her step-mother was dead, but that was just too much for Link. He couldn't face her knowing that he'd taken Karyn away from her family, that her soul was now trapped inside his body. He tried not to think about her as being trapped, she had sacrificed herself for him. When he died, her soul would be set free also.  
  
"Link?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"What happened to the sages?"  
  
"I'm almost certain I saw into another world when I held onto the sword for those last few moments as the light surrounded me. They were there. I think they're hiding in the Light World with Rauru." "What did happen to Rauru? Did he die?"  
  
"I don't think so, not quite anyway. He knew all along what was happening with me, and went to the Light World to give the others aid from there, knowing they would need that open connection between the two worlds." Kafei looked at him dumbfounded. He didn't even have to ask Link how he knew, Link just tapped the side of his head and smiled.  
  
"Hero of Time man, I just know things." Kafei grinned. Link knew that grin. "No, you don't want to be the Hero of Time. Trust me. Look what's happened to me." Kafei just shook his head and chuckled.  
  
"Well Link? What about Dark Link?"  
  
"What about him?" Link took a potato and turned it in his hand as if it amused him. He was obviously avoiding the question.  
  
"Don't give me that. You know damn well what I mean."  
  
"Look, I just need time, ok? I need a plan. I can't just go barging back into Hyrule to steal the Master Sword. Zelda might be counting on that. Besides, no one but me and my kin can pull that sword, so it'll be safe for now while I cool down."  
  
"And just how long will it take for you to 'cool down'?"  
  
"We'll just have to see."  
  
*************************  
  
2 years later....  
  
Link awoke to the sounds of birds chirping overhead. He slowly opened his eyes and was met with a big black nostril in his face.  
  
"Yuck, get away Epona," he moaned and rolled over, trying to shield the sun from his face. He had been traveling the whole day before and part of the night, and right now he just wanted to sleep. His first mission was to go to Lon Lon Ranch and confront his biggest fear right now. The second, was to somehow retrieve the Master Sword and make sure nothing could free Dark Link.  
  
That evening after gathering supplies he headed towards Lon Lon Ranch and rode up towards the pasture. Letting Epona run around, he went back to the farmhouse and knocked on the door. He was actually a little surprised when Malon answered the door.....Malon never answered the door. She was hardly ever actually inside the house during the day. She took one look at him and Link just knew she was going to slam it, but to his relief, she didn't. Instead she stepped aside as an obvious invitation for him to come inside. Only nodding, he stepped inside and she closed the door, leaning against it. No one spoke for a few minutes. Finally gathering up his courage, Link walked over to Malon and pulled her to the table so they could sit down.  
  
"I don't know where to begin.." Link wouldn't take his gaze off her and it unnerved her somewhat.  
  
"You don't have to, Link. Karyn told me what she planned to do, and I accepted it because I knew it would save you, even though it meant I would lose her."  
  
"I.."  
  
"Shhh. I don't want you to feel guilty, because I know how that whole thing affected you. I know you cared about her. I know you care about me."  
  
"Malon, I-"  
  
"Father didn't take it as well, at first. We've had two years to heal though, Link. Some of the pain has receded -most of it- but it will never be completely gone."  
  
"I know that, and I'd do-"  
  
"Don't make promises you can't keep. I have forgiven you Link. What we had between us, the friendship, that won't ever be the same. But I will never hate you. I could never hate you."  
  
Before Link could even say anything this time, Malon got up and started for the stairs. "We can be friendly toward each other, but I'm afraid it will never go past that. I just can't. I can't, and I need you to accept that even if you don't understand it."  
  
"Stay in the barn if you need to, but I'm afraid that's all I can offer for now," she said in a voice that Link perceived as somewhat guilty.  
  
"This is it huh? No more?" Malon didn't say anything and headed up the stairs, leaving Link with his thoughts.  
  
*********  
  
Link's eyes snapped open when he felt a familiar churning in his stomach. ((Odd,)) he thought. ((I get that feeling when I'm time traveling.)) Climbing out of the hay, he got onto Epona and rode out of the ranch toward New Castle Town. When he saw a few guards ride up as he entered, he figured it would be best to stay out of sight, seeing as he'd been banished. Hiding behind a few shrubs just outside the Temple of Time, he overheard the guards talking. "The princess is no where to be found, and the Master Sword seems to have mysteriously disappeared. If she's not back by sundown tomorrow, the king will surely declare war on the city of Erryl."  
  
"Why Erryl?"  
  
"Fool, that is where Lord Eiraki captured him. He is sure that Eiraki's successor has been plotting something against him, and this could be it. The king's been looking for an excuse to attack anyway..."  
  
"Enough! Let's get out of here."  
  
((So, Zelda's been kidnaped and the Master Sword has vanished. Interesting indeed.)) Link emerged from the shrubs and went to get his horse.  
  
Flinging the door open to the farmhouse with a bit more force than necessary, Link raced up the stairs and pounded on Malon's door. The possible outbreak of war had his heart racing and his mind swarming. He had to tell Malon what he really thought of her and now, before he lost his nerve and it was too late.  
  
"Malon!" Malon opened her door and Link pushed past her before she could shut the door. He didn't want her avoiding him anymore because of pride, he knew she felt the same way about him as he did her. "I'm going to talk to you, and you're not going to interrupt."  
  
He pulled her with him and sat her down on the bed. He kneeled down in front of her so their faces would be level.  
  
"I love you, ok? I have for a long time even if I couldn't tell you in the past. I couldn't grasp that feeling, it was out of my reach, but now that my mind is my own, I know it through and through. I'm not finished yet. I know you said you didn't want anything beyond just friendship, but I don't understand it and I sure as hell can't accept it, because I know *you* can't accept it Malon.  
  
"I know how you feel about me and there's no getting around it. You're mine and you always will be." He breathed. "There, I've said it. We belong together. I love you." Malon didn't say anything, but she smiled. Link knew everything would be ok now. It had to be ok. He would die if it were anything other than ok.  
  
"I knew my knight in shining armor would sweep me off my feet someday. I'm glad it was you, Link."  
  
Hugging each other, they both thought they had finally found peace at last.  
  
***********************  
  
3 years after that....  
  
The war was a lost cause. Though what war wasn't?  
  
Link and Kafei walked side by side through the mass of dead bodies, their troops not far behind. The war was finally over after three years and they had survived. Link promised himself that he would survive...for her. They were on the outskirts of the Gerudo Valley where the last battle had been fought.  
  
Day after day, battle after battle, it seemed to go on forever and forever until there was no more land to fight on. Everywhere the soldiers went, more innocents died, and more land had gone to waste. It was to be expected in war, and with such a war as great as this, it was a surprise the whole world hadn't been destroyed in the process.  
  
Though the fighting was over, there had been no victory. The Princess Zelda was lost to all, as was the king of Hyrule. The king died with pride, sword in hand, during a battle as great warriors should die. The princess, however, seemed to have vanished from the very earth. Link and Kafei walked sluggishly back toward Hyrule, not knowing what had become of the once beautiful country.  
  
A couple days later, they stood on the border between Gerudo Valley and the Hyrule Field, unable to do anything but stare in shock and defeat. The land was black, marred by flame and battle. There were sporadic fires across the field and bodies, so many bodies, lay bloody as far as the eye could see.  
  
There was a moment of panic as Link realized the fighting had ranged over the entire country, and wasted no more time to get back to his home. Running like the devil, Kafei and his friends right behind him, it didn't take them long to reach the gates of Lon Lon Ranch. The burning gates of Lon Lon Ranch.  
  
"Oh Goddesses, no." Link ran to the farmhouse and searched for his wife. When he could not find her he searched the pasture, the barn, the milk tower. He searched everywhere but could not find a living soul.  
  
"Link..." Kafei whispered as he tapped him on the shoulder. "Link, over there..." Link turned and followed Kafei's gaze to the far north end of the ranch, where on the wall three crosses had been mounted. Without saying anything, Link ran toward them and stopped so suddenly he almost fell at the sight of the three crucified bodies. Talon, Ingo, and...no.  
  
There was an instant when everything went dark, and then he was all of a sudden flooded with memories of two lives, combined into one. It was mostly her though, glowing the biggest and brightest.  
  
"I knew you'd come back to me, love," she said. "I knew it wouldn't be long."  
  
"I'm almost there, just give me your hand." Their fingers met and his world exploded as white light surrounded them both and they were carried away.  
  
Link had died instantly, his heart exploding within his chest. Kafei lit a fire in the center of the ranch and threw the four bodies into it, praying for their souls. He then lead the troops back out into the black world that waited for them. The land threatened to swallow them whole, filling them with despair and bitterness for the consequences of that useless war.  
  
Kafei straightened himself and promised he would not let his best friend down, that he would not give in to death. He would survive because Link hadn't, and he would make sure the people knew of the legend of a great hero that defeated a great many evils, and would continue to fight on in the next life. The Hero of Time would be reborn, and it would be a dark day when evil crossed his path.  
  
"Now you are free, Link. You are both free." And Kafei set out for home. 


	12. Epilogue

If you have not read Reborn Legends, this will confuse you.

Epilogue

Link's eyes snapped open when he felt a familiar churning in his stomach. ((Odd,)) he thought. ((I get that feeling when I'm time traveling.)) Climbing out of the hay, he got onto Epona and rode out of the ranch toward New Castle Town. When he saw a few guards ride up as he entered, he figured it would be best to stay out of sight, seeing as he'd been banished.

Link watched from his position behind the shrubs as three of the soldiers he saw earlier approach..Zelda? ((Who the hell is she with?)) Link thought as he watched the soldiers take Zelda and her little friend back to the castle. He needed time to carefully plan what exactly he was going to do with the Master Sword, and decided to give it a couple days, maybe figure out who this new guy was.

He also decided that he needed to find a different place to stay. ((I don't think I'm welcome anymore at the ranch. I might as well just forget about it and do what I have to do. Malon doesn't want to see me again.))

Three days later, sitting on the ground outside the courtyard just out of sight, Link tried to process all the information he had gathered. When he went to the temple to get the Master Sword he was quite surprised to find it missing. No one was supposed to be able to pull that sword but him. He was almost positive that boy Zelda had living with her had something to do with it.

Then it all clicked into place.

Zelda knew he would be back. She had taken precautions and had gotten someone to replace him. ((Shit,)) he thought. ((She traveled through time to get...oh fuck.)) That was why he had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach a few days ago, and that's why this visitor looked vaguely familiar.

He was brought out of his thoughts when two figures came into the courtyard to have supper. ((It's about time.)) Something then inside Link sparked, he couldn't explain what, but he knew all of a sudden what was happening. He felt it again. He felt an all too familiar presence within the boy and his mind screamed.

This was going to be one hell of a day.

END

(A/N): I had to upload and replace every single chapter because the brackets I'd been using to convey thoughts were sometimes stripped because recognized it as a possible HTML tag. Grrrr. So you might have missed a few thoughts in previous chapters. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for your patience for my patience. Heh. (End a/n).

(A/N2): For those of you who are totally confused, I will explain this to the best of my ability. When Link wakes up, it is after Zelda has traveled through time to bring back Li. Therefore, what you read in the previous chapter (A Lost Cause) is what would have happened had Zelda never returned. However, she did return almost instantly after she left (or so it would seem to everyone in Hyrule), so history changed into what you just read in the epilogue. Basically, I wrote two alternating futures proceeding Zelda's "disappearance." The one in the epilogue is the real one. Still confused? Be sure to have read Reborn Legends. If you haven't, disregard the epilogue entirely and forget everything I've said. It's amazing how I even confuse myself sometimes...(End a/n2)


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